Nowpublic Forming a Writers Union Please Read.

by djermano | October 31, 2009 at 06:37 am

243 views | 16 Recommendations | 22 comments

By: The Rev.

Nowpublic is now forming a Writers Union to protect the rights of writers...We the writers did the work and the research for a number of years...to then have our work sold off so the co-founders can profit from our labor. We have rights, that NP is violating. We should not be banned because we can go to other news sources to report the sell off, and how we writers were duped and left with nothing.

Please join the Union and protect your rights.

The Rev.

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Hugh Askew

at 07:14 on October 31st, 2009

Sorry, Rev.

I'm opposed to unions on purely philosophical grounds.

To quote Marx, "....whatever it is, I'm against it".

djermano

at 07:15 on October 31st, 2009

I will be the first to comment here: because for some reason I am unable to post further information in the article: I suspect NP is now censoring me.

...I find it quite unfair and against our rights as contributing writers who made NP what it is, and then to have the Co-founders on a whim sell us out..while giving us nothing..while they pocket profits is a complete rip off and scam. What about the writers? I do not think they will ban us...because we can go to other news sources and report about it....how the writers at NP are being screwed over by the co-founders... They may have started the site, but they are not the ones who did the work and the reseach, and put in the time to make NP what it is....to then have it sold out from under us. They can't get away with this.

The Rev......

freedomofthepressbelongstothosewhoownone (not verified)

at 17:05 on November 4th, 2009

i have been censored in the past for 'wake up' calls concerning the murderous war crimes of the israeli idf forces against gazan children. i posted then that there was a policy that treads all over the democracy and believability of citizen journalism. in fact, the then owner of nowpublic was thinkink more about the common thought of selling nowpublic for cash in the millions than serving a public with citizen journalist news.the ex-owners pandering email about 'paying' is tokenism and shows that he knows what he did. we ought not to allow this sale to go through. it is a terrible precedent for web2.0

djermano

at 07:16 on October 31st, 2009

Hugh so you're oppesed a? So knock yourself out working while someone collects pay on your work is what you believe? You must be crazy. Last I saw you big bankers borrowed money from us.. So what went wrong Mr. Capitalist?

The Rev.

Hugh Askew

at 07:26 on October 31st, 2009

ooop, sorry. I mis-spoked, errr, spelled. Corrected.

"So knock yourself out working while someone collects pay on your work is what you believe? You must be crazy."

See, someone, somewhere, has to pay for the privilege of keeping this site on the net. It can either come out of the site owners own pocket, your pocket, or the owner can sell advertising to try to make enough money to keep it ongoing.

My guess is that the new owner will try to sell more advertising...make a buck...that is why he is a rich businessman...'cuz he knows how to use money to increase his wealth.

They don't just let folks use bandwidth and servers for fun. It has to be paid for, else it will disappear.

I work for a company that makes money on what i do. It is a small company. My contribution is vital to the success of that company. They expect me to make enough profit for them, so they can continue the business, so i can continue to have a job, hence a paycheck. What i do with my paycheck is of no concern to them, as long as they are making money.

I doubt that the new owner will give a hoot about your feelings, or what you write, good or bad, as long as this site makes money.

djermano

at 07:40 on October 31st, 2009

You think I was born yesterday and don't know reality in paying our bills? Of course I know this...the thing is the owners at NP have given us no clue to what they are doing, or asking or informing the writers about the needs of NP. It looks like NP is turning into a scam.. .where writers work day and night for hours on end, even years....and get not a dime for their efforts.....and the Co-owners think they have the right to pull the damn rug right out from under us? We are not slaves.....we contributed much to NP so they could sell it, and pocket the money....but we writers get what? Nothing?

Well I am forming a union whether they like it or not around NP....to protect the writers rights....and to demand we deserve the right to have a say in the buisness of NP.. as well. They can not operate without us.

Yes I agree that he should have been selling ad space, but he didn't....he sold NP out....so now the Examiner another News source takes up all the ad space...

Why? These hucksters don't want us to become successful and take away their profits and control of the Media. They owe us....It is not the other way around.

The Rev.

PIM of SPAIN

at 07:46 on October 31st, 2009

Whatever argument is used, the fact is that a good site has been built by the content of us writers. At least NP Management should have informed us in advance about what was going to happen. Now we are kept in the dark with the impression nothing has changed. This is intolerable for all of us involved.

djermano

at 07:53 on October 31st, 2009

Thanks for your comment PIM....I fully agree.

The Rev.

Barry Artiste

at 10:05 on October 31st, 2009

In response to Hugh Askew horrendous and misinformed FOR SHAME Marx quote, I on the other hand will outdo Hugh Askew, by phrasing another famous Marx Quote ......"Anyone who would want me in their organization, I certainly would not want to be a member of.~!" Okay! Maybe I am quoting the wrong Marx here, but Groucho it is!

Hugh Askew

at 11:11 on October 31st, 2009

Correct Marx - the only one that matters.

(BTW His actual written words from the letter were: "Please accept my resignation. I don't want to belong to any club that will accept people like me as a member.")

"Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted."

Barry Artiste

at 10:09 on October 31st, 2009

Joining a union sounds like work, and I have enough on my plate my friend (djermano) to be required to come up with a certain amount of Op.Ed pieces.

Besides, word has it the Examiner bought Now Public for it's "State of the Art" World Leading publishing Software Technology! HA!

J2B (not verified)

at 10:30 on October 31st, 2009

Examiner certainly didn't buy NP for the posts, like you said, it's the technology they wanted!

Barry Artiste

at 10:32 on October 31st, 2009

Yeah! State of the Art! dinja know?

techdude (not verified)

at 17:07 on November 4th, 2009

the technology is drupal, open source and some php hacks, nothing special. and content is king. like in film, its not te studio cameras that investors buy, it's the talent and the stories on file there.

djermano

at 16:32 on October 31st, 2009

You are required to come up with for NP.....Well they don't pay you Barry...so what requirement are you talking about? You mean you like dishing out fine articles and your swell personality to promote NP...while they sell it out and make profits off you.....giving you nothing, and hand everything over to the very people we have been trying to change. I find that quite polarizing.

The Rev.

djermano

at 16:28 on October 31st, 2009

I don't believe that J2B...because Examiner has enough money to make their own technology. And Barry I am rather surprised at you. You don't care about who owns the place where you spend hours writing and putting your hard earned energy into? You like supporting Anschutz, and could give a rats tail his connection to the big money empire that he is part of that caused the big problems we have today..... right?

The Rev

jefhow22

at 16:48 on October 31st, 2009

...Join a union? No thanks!! Been there...Done that...IAFF...did nothing but take 1% of my pay every week for 24 years so some Humpty Dumpty could lay about in his candy wrappers!

politisite

at 17:48 on October 31st, 2009

NowPublic is not starting a Union. You are a NowPublic contributor. I have been writing here for 2 years now and see absolutely no reason why a Union would be necessary. The NowPublic staff has been more than helpful to me and my work here. All views are honored here. I appreciate a site that is dedicated to bringing the news from all parts of the world. Thankfully, NP believes in free exercise of the press.

J2B (not verified)

at 21:55 on October 31st, 2009

all views are honored within the set guidelines!

djermano

at 18:20 on October 31st, 2009

We are not asking to pay dues Jef.

Ah yes they are politisite.... We are contributing for the success of a website....whereby writers are recognized as the real supporter and creators of NowPublic....it is not the fancy technological empire that controls..things; it is the writers. Whether you like it or not the word is out....that we as writers are not going to be used as fodder to be sold off to Big Media crooks. We built this Site....not the Non NowPublic staff who hides behinds screens and plots ways to use citizens for their gains. NP does not believe in free exercise of the Press but uses writers for their own profit schemes...They neither allow writers the freedom of ownership here nor the relationship that includes real financial transparency to the direction NP goes.

The Rev.

jefhow22

at 08:43 on November 1st, 2009

Rev...I know dues is not the issue...I was just noting that Unions are a waste of time in today's market...yes...they established minimum wage...yes..they brought about change in medical insurance...yes...they protected children from labor laws...no..I didn't sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last night...but...I must say in all respect that the choice to write on NP is a personal choice and people can always opt to....leave....or just read posts....or write for the pure joy of Freedom of Expression...If I thought for one minute that the powers to be could use my 2 cents worth of info I write about on here I would be elated and somewhat humbled and I might add...surprised...I would like to think that everyone on NP realizes that...(oh boy...I'll catch flack for this)...there are no Pulitzer Prize winners here BUT all news shared and written by writers for NP are the best in their respective fields.....kindly...

Jeff

djermano

at 04:22 on November 2nd, 2009

Ah...but the writers don't know that their writing pleasure, and pure joy of Freedom of Expression...is being used to make profits for Big Media now...and for Anschutz.. At least before people knew this was an alternative news source and believed that NP supported Citizen Journalism....and that if they did use a story written the writer would be compensated fairly.. Certainly that has changed now...expecially given the background to Mr. Anschutz..whom I might add has many other questionable events that are under the eye of the Law for committing crimes...that I did not mention in my article Nowpublic Meet Your New Boss.

Jef..that is pretty naive to think how elated and surprised you would be to give away your labor for them to profit on.... That is what is happening here....make no mistake about it. And who are you to say there are no Pulitzer Prize winners here? I think Barry Artiste is a very great writer and personality here...for such an award....But they will probably give that to Obama too I suppose.

The Rev.