OPEN BID FOR NWU CONTENT FARM CAMPAIGN RESEARCHER/WRITER

NWU is ready to launch the first phase of our campaign to improve the pay and working conditions for writers who work for online content providers (content "farms" or "mills"). The first stage of the campaign is educational, both internally for our members and externally for other writers and potential allies. The "Big 3" content farms are owned by AOL, Yahoo and Demand Media, which boasts of having 10,000 journalists working for a penny-a-word.

We want to know who these content farms really are, their financing, what they are worth, how much they earn off the pennies they pay. We want to put a face on them so writers can identify them and we can focus in on an organizing target. We want to post this material on our website; send it to other writers groups, friendly local, state and federal politicians, and the media; to spread the discussion about the campaign and establish the NWU at the center of it. We have already stirred some interest.

We want to hire one of our members to produce 2 print-ready columns on the subject over the next month for $1,000 ($1/word for two 500 word articles). Meeting deadlines is essential. The columns must be well researched and well written. We would like to have an option to request 4 more articles from the same researcher/writer over the following two months at the same rate. At the end of three months, the NEC will evaluate the information produced, the response to the articles and how to proceed with the campaign.

If you are interested in this job, please submit a sample of your writing, a brief resume of your writing experience and your plan for this assignment. Send it to nwu@nwu.org. The bidding opens today and will close at the end of business on Friday, February 11, 2011. We want the member hired to begin work on Monday, February 21. We reserve the right to discontinue the agreement after the first article if we find it unacceptable.