Detailed question, and a very detailed response as well. So, let’s hear it from Dr Bhaskar Das in the June 7 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…
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Q. Freelance writers and columnists are paid horribly in India, and post-pandemic, the tribe has suffered more. Since you’ve run print P&Ls in the past, why is it non-staff contributors are considered the lowest common denominator?
A. There is no doubt that it’s unfortunate, if that’s a dominant reality. I am sure you are more aware about the prevalent practices on the subject. But what surprises me is that how can there be a standard low level of payment irrespective of the subject and/ or the expertise that is required. For instance, for a food- or fashion-based contributor (text /video/ photograph), the charges are pretty high. In fact, the logic of outsourcing (perhaps) is that inhouse expertise isn’t available to a media house. It a choice between ‘make’ or ‘buy’. And it happens due to either supply-side abundance, or demand-side shortage. And that influences the decision. I presume a specialist writer may dictate the fees compared to a generalist writer. Media houses leverage (euphemism, though for exploitation) this demand-supply situation. I won’t be surprised to know that with the abundance of UGC and the so-called rightsizing in the media space the payment situation might have worsened.
With the scope of journalism expanded from predominantly text to audio, video etc the stretch on capability expansion in journalists have gone up. Does your question subsume the demand supply of this emerged space? I have no idea. I instinctively feel the practitioners in these areas might not have started complaining as yet.