Arianna Huffington responds to lawsuit

April 14, 2011 Editor Journalism arianna huffingtonfreelancer rateshuffington posttrouble spots

In a post on her own site, Arianna Huffington takes time out from "aggregating adorable kitten videos" to discuss the $105 million lawsuit that Jonathan Tasini is pursuing against the Huffington Post and AOL on behalf of 9,000 unpaid HuffPo writers.

Huffington's tone is entirely dismissive: "First, let's look at the merits of the case," she writes. "There are none." She goes on to say that no contracts were broken, and sentimentally notes that the group blog is part of her "DNA."

She chastises Tasini for launching the suit after years of sending thank-you notes to HuffPo for the exposure he was getting from writing for them:

It seems that AOL's purchase of HuffPost suddenly opened his eyes to the fact that we are a business. I guess he'd missed the ads that appeared on the same page as his blog posts the 216 times he decided, of his own free will, to post something on our site.

Huffington's response is a direct message to Tasini, and other unpaid HuffPo writers, that she's fully entrenched in her belief that there is nothing wrong with using free content to build a profitable online business. Changing her mind, it seems, is going to take more than what some are calling a frivolous lawsuit.

A misguided tactic with its heart in the right place

April 13, 2011 Editor Compensation aolcollective actionhuffington postjonathan tasinilawsuittrouble spots

Writer and trade unionist Jonathan Tasini has fought and won battles on behalf of freelance journalists in the past. But his lawsuit against Arianna Huffington and AOL, launched yesterday, seems as likely to alienate current supporters of unpaid Huffington Post bloggers as it does to get more people on their side.Tasini is asking for US$105…

NMA SOS?

April 11, 2011 Editor News national magazine awards

[caption id="attachment_715" align="alignnone" width="504" caption="Screengrab from April 6."][/caption]An embarrassing public reveal of a list of nominees, a month ahead of schedule, and complaints from a National Magazine Award judge about problems with the judging process, suggest that all is not well with the annual literary awards.On April 6,…

Toronto Standard launch showed off publisher’s assets

April 08, 2011 Editor Event

Last night, Toronto Standard went live, and a party held to fête the new Toronto-focused site, a "daily digital briefing on the life of the city," made no effort to hide the strong financial backing provided by founder and publisher Lee Polydor, investor and founder of Queen Street Capital Partners.An open bar, swanky hors d'oeurves, and cute,…

Kurt Vonnegut’s tips for storytellers

April 08, 2011 Editor Advice advicefictionkurt vonnegut

Whether you've seen it before and need a refresher or it's new to you, this lecture by the late Kurt Vonnegut—who began his incredibly sucessful writing career as a journalist—on the "shape of stories" is as full of laughs as it is an instructive summary of the most popular narrative arcs, and, therefore, always worth a watch.Link via…

Freelance court interpreters consider unionizing

April 07, 2011 Editor Compensation collective actioncourt interpreterscwa canadafreelancer ratesunion organizing

Ottawa-area freelance court interpreters, who provide an essential service in court cases involving non-English-speaking individuals, are continuing a work stoppage that began in February and are considering joining a union, according to this story from the Lawyers Weekly.Those involved in the group action, with the backing of the Court…

Not just for laughs

April 06, 2011 Editor Compensation collective actionfreelancer rateshuffington post

[caption id="attachment_686" align="alignnone" width="501" caption="Screengrab from Thecomedystore.com"][/caption]The story of a group of comedians gigging at the Comedy Store in the '70s is being compared to the battle for fair compensation currently being fought by unpaid Huffington Post writers. After working for free for six years, the comics…

St. Joseph Media keeps mum about Torontoist plans

April 05, 2011 Editor Compensation digitalfreelancer ratespublishingst. joseph mediatorontoist

By Ian HarveyThree weeks after the announcement Torontoist had got hitched to St. Joseph Media, there’s a cone of silence on what the future holds for the newlyweds.Attempts by Story Board to interview the principals involved, Torontoist publisher Ken Hunt and St. Joe’s president Doug Knight, received short email responses or were ignored…

CWG gets its writers on the Ontario design community’s radar

April 04, 2011 Editor News canadian writers grouppublishingregistered graphic designers of ontario

The Canadian Writers Group has signed on as the official Content Sponsor for the Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario.It's a unique opportunity for the literary agency, says CWG's Derek Finkle. "Sponsoring an organization like this is a way of spreading the word about what we do, in an effective and targeted way."CWG will produce content for…

Blabbing with Blatchford

March 31, 2011 Editor Event christie blatchfordeventglobe and mailmassey college

[caption id="attachment_662" align="alignnone" width="501" caption="Screengrab from Theglobeandmail.com."][/caption] Last night Massey College hosted the third Press Club Night, a series devoted to "celebrating Toronto's community of journalists."Well known Globe columnist and author Christie Blatchford sat down with the college's master,…