Jonathanworth.com

Don't be scared of the F Word

28.01.10

Jonathan asked to respond to Black Star Rising’s most popular ever blog post:

……So before agreeing to write for Black Star Rising, I e-mailed them to ask why I should write a blog post without being paid to do so.

Here was the response I received:

Black Star Rising is a group blog where we give bloggers the freedom to write about issues of interest to them. Contributors are not paid for posts; we do offer them links back to their own Web sites and blogs and promote them in other ways, such as through our Twitter account.

Hmm. Now let’s peek again at Harrison’s post:

Many media outlets now offer a photo credit, rather than monetary compensation, for the use of your photo. “It will be great advertising for your work,” they tell you, “and getting published by us will help you professionally.”

Isn’t it the same argument for submitting a post to this blog?

Let’s not forget that Black Star is a photographic agency, not a charity. It runs its blog because it raises its profile, embeds its reputation among professionals and makes it an authority. In its business model, those benefits must eventually lead to hard cash……