Freelance Journalism Job Offers to Pay $6 Per Day, If You're Lucky
Prefix magazine, a New York-based music and film publication, is hiring news writers for its website. But they can't just be any lame bloggers off the street, of course. Aware that this is a buyer's market when it comes to hiring writing talent, Prefix demands top candidates, noting in a Craigslist job posting that all writing applicants must have "an encyclopedic knowledge of music or film."
They'd also prefer people who have some journalism experience and "high-quality" writing. And all that's just to be eligible to apply. From there, here's the gauntlet through which potential writers must run:
• Send an e-mail that includes film or music-focused writing samples that are representative of your work and voice.
• Send a minimum of two sample news posts.
• Offer any details that would help us get a better idea of the music you're most interested in, including the music or film publications and blogs you read regularly.
• Tell us your five favorite albums or films released in the past 365 days.
• Tell us what five albums or films you couldn't live without.
The kicker: Anyone lucky enough to get hired will be expected to write at least three 200-plus-word posts a day, for which they will be compensated $2 per post. Think of it, recent J-school grads: All you'd need to do is write 10,000 words a week and you're looking at a cool $100.
In defense of its terrible pay, Prefix says via Twitter, "Most people would rather get paid something. We used to pay nothing." Journalism in 2012: At least it's not nothing.
Photo: Getty.