Two weeks ago I went down to the office of The Times of India to pick up my cheque for the 1,000-word piece I had written for them.
Picking up personal cheques is one of my favourite things in life, but this time my joy was compromised by the amount payable… 800 rupees. That’s about $17 dollars or eleven quid. Boy, did I party that night.
Still it’s all about the love of journalism, not the money, right? That’s why I still have the cheque and will frame it when I get the chance. But this is by no means an isolated case.
Last year, buried away in another Times of India piece I found the interesting story that Indian management students were buying up copies of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf, citing it as inspirational text. One man, one vision, went for it, achieved it and so on. Weird, but true.
So I sold the story to The Sunday Telegraph in the UK, which they finally printed on Hitler’s birthday, no doubt in an effort to maximise online search and coverage. I rang up Delhi booksellers, I spoke to academics and I contacted historians… all for a fee of £90. Pathetic.
And so it goes. I’ve since written technology and health stories for The Guardian, and travel pieces for the Sunday Times and FT, but it’s getting harder, contributors are being reduced and the going rate is going down by the week.
The problem is especially acute when it comes to travel-writing. Instant electronic blogs, message boards and ye olde sociale networks especially Twitter, mean travel stories are whirling around every road and destination. Paid travel-writing for newspapers and magazines is effectively dead.
There should be no sadness about this. Journalists have had it easy for years. Research means clicking on a web site and has obviated the need to delve through parish records for information. A monkey with a gizmo could do it.
It has been a revolution and journalists need to change with the times and become publishers themselves. In a week where the extraordinarily well-trafficked New York Times is having a second go at charging for content, so this particular writer is doing the same.
So from next week, this newsletter will only consist of the first paragraph and will then direct you to Monty’s Outlook website where the completed editorial can be viewed.
So, in the tradition of good journalism where the first paragraph has to engage the reader, so you will be given the same choice. If you think it’s shit then you need to go no further.
If not, come to the website where you might just find some extra treats for the weekend… and guess what, it doesn’t cost 800 rupees, it’s free.
Monty Munford has more than 15 years' experience in mobile, digital media, web and journalism. He is the founder of Mob76, a company that helps tech companies raise money and exit. He speaks regularly at global media events with a focus on Africa, writes a weekly column for The Telegraph, is a regular contributor to The Economist, Wired, Mashable and speaks regularly on the BBC World Service.
