Equal Opportunity. LOL

[Cardinal Pizza Deliverance.]

This is kinda old news but I didn't see it mentioned and thought it interesting.

http://www.catherinedeveny.com/columns/2013/6/13/equal-not.html

Equal approached Catherine Deveny about offering her comments on several different subjects that they would then use, along with her name, to promote the sweetener and in theory feminism and the choices women make. Only they weren't going to pay her. Just use her name and her comments and allow her to participate in the online real time debates. But hey, it would totally enhance her rep. For realsies.

We'll publicise these topics and your contribution, and invite all Australian women to join the online debate. We're hosting 2 live debates (similar to TED.com format) to which you're welcome to join the debating panel. What's more, if you would like to be available for media interviews or to launch trending topics, let us know and we'll incorporate you into our PR plan.

Unfortunately Equal cannot offer you cash for comment. However in exchange for your time, we will promote your contribution and profile alongside other influential Australian women such as Deborah Thomas, who has already agreed to take part.

So she ripped them a new one.

Joining a debate about the choices women make?

Here's the choice I make. Not to work for multinationals for free. Or any businesses. I am a single mum and I pay every single person who works for me.

Women are 50% of the population, do two thirds of the work, earn 10% of the money and  own 1% of the property.

And you have the gall to frame this opportunity to work for free as some kind of feminist jamboree. And why we are on gall, promoting a dieting aid with feminism? Excuse me while I throw up in my mouth. Sorry what? It's about health, lifestyle and choices. No it's not. It's about selling dissatisfication and self loathing. I think you've picked the WRONG GIRL.

She got a decent reply but I find the whole topic interesting and I wonder how it turned out.

[Pope Pixie Pickle]

hahahaha! Awesome.

[Pæs]

That was a great response, though.

Oh, yes. You're right. This entire thing is unacceptable. I'll advise the client that they suck.

[hooplala]

"All publicity is good publicity." - Lee Harvey Oswald


I was never very likely to use Equal, now considerably less so.

[Cardinal Pizza Deliverance.]

I need to look more in-depth to see if there's anything else about this. I'd like to know if all the contributors actually got paid.

[Pæs]

Equal believes there is no right or wrong

What?

[Cain]

This is an unfortunate problem in all media nowadays.

Publications like The Atlantic will frequently print articles from freelancers...for no pay.  The freelancer gets "access" and "name recognition" in return for their work.

If this weren't merely a cynical ploy to milk freelancers and "non-professional commentators" for all they are worth, it might even be a good idea.  But it is not, so it's not.

[MMIX]

If this weren't merely a cynical ploy to milk freelancers and "non-professional commentators" for all they are worth, it might even be a good idea.  But it is not, so it's not.

You could replace "non-professional commentators" with "academics" which just makes me laugh like a drain.

[Cardinal Pizza Deliverance.]

It is incredibly common, to tout 'exposure' as adequate compensation. A lot of the places I've been looking at to submit my stories don't offer pay. You just get a publishing credit and get your shit out there. Which is fine for beginners and for fun. But if you're spending tons of time honing your craft and trying to stay afloat, you're gonna have to get paid at some point.

I was looking at an online writing gig and while some people get paid $100 or $200 per article, first you've got to write a whole ton of articles to demonstrate your ability to bring in readers and THEN after you've been assessed and proven to be of value, then they'll pay you. Maybe. I wrote it off as a scam and then two days later one of my friends e-mailed me and said I should try it because it looked so cool and I'd get my writing out there for everyone to see, yay! :P

Of course, this is the same person who wanted me to crochet a California-king sized lace-weight mohair afghan in a kaleidoscope of colors. Pay, you ask? Why no! You get to play with the yarn! Besides, everyone knows yarn is super cheap - people are even making it at home these days.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

If this weren't merely a cynical ploy to milk freelancers and "non-professional commentators" for all they are worth, it might even be a good idea.  But it is not, so it's not.

You could replace "non-professional commentators" with "academics" which just makes me laugh like a drain.

Really? Why?

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

It is incredibly common, to tout 'exposure' as adequate compensation. A lot of the places I've been looking at to submit my stories don't offer pay. You just get a publishing credit and get your shit out there. Which is fine for beginners and for fun. But if you're spending tons of time honing your craft and trying to stay afloat, you're gonna have to get paid at some point.

I was looking at an online writing gig and while some people get paid $100 or $200 per article, first you've got to write a whole ton of articles to demonstrate your ability to bring in readers and THEN after you've been assessed and proven to be of value, then they'll pay you. Maybe. I wrote it off as a scam and then two days later one of my friends e-mailed me and said I should try it because it looked so cool and I'd get my writing out there for everyone to see, yay! :P

Of course, this is the same person who wanted me to crochet a California-king sized lace-weight mohair afghan in a kaleidoscope of colors. Pay, you ask? Why no! You get to play with the yarn! Besides, everyone knows yarn is super cheap - people are even making it at home these days.

I've had my share of people who think I should work for free, and it always makes me question whether they're actually my friends, or at least whether I want them to be.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Equal believes there is no right or wrong

What?

Yeah, that line is AMAZING. And very descriptive of corporate ethical values.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

As bad as it sounds out of context, in context it's fucking spectacular:

This means Equal is now both an artificial and a natural sweetener...which is ok because like Australian Women, we're comfortable with making contradictory choices. Equal believes there is no right or wrong, and is now demonstrating this via exploring the choices we make on equalchoice.com.au.

Equalchoice.com.au will be launched late August 2013. It will be a space where we invite Catherine and other influential Australian women to debate topics.

We'll post 30+ topics that range from the controversial, frivolous to serious. For example:

Ageing...fight it or let it happen gracefully?

Politics...addictive or aggravating?

Legal drinking age...fine as is or should be raised?

Marriage equality...universal or sacrilegious?

Boat people...genuine threat or seeking asylum?

Childbirth...drugs please or drug-free?

Botox...wonderful or woeful?

[MMIX]

If this weren't merely a cynical ploy to milk freelancers and "non-professional commentators" for all they are worth, it might even be a good idea.  But it is not, so it's not.

You could replace "non-professional commentators" with "academics" which just makes me laugh like a drain.

Really? Why?

Good luck getting paid for any academic journal articles you author, Nigel. Most academics are not writing under a book contract but as free [and gratis] intellectual spirits . Its how the whole academic system works. Academic journals are produced by for-profit publishing houses but their authors are, in the main, unpaid "contributors".

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

If this weren't merely a cynical ploy to milk freelancers and "non-professional commentators" for all they are worth, it might even be a good idea.  But it is not, so it's not.

You could replace "non-professional commentators" with "academics" which just makes me laugh like a drain.

Really? Why?

Good luck getting paid for any academic journal articles you author, Nigel. Most academics are not writing under a book contract but as free [and gratis] intellectual spirits . Its how the whole academic system works. Academic journals are produced by for-profit publishing houses but their authors are, in the main, unpaid "contributors".

Derp, that's true, and there is a great deal of bullshit and favoritism and corruption in academic publishing, (my friend Emily is a major voice in the librarian-backed movement for academic publishing reform) but I don't think that we SHOULD be paid for publishing. We are paid for doing our work, and our work is meaningless unless we can communicate it. Publishing and presenting are the two primary avenues for sharing our findings. The reform that is needed has nothing to do with being paid for publishing, which would only worsen the existing situation with limited access to dissemination of research results.

If we, as academics, want to get paid for writing (outside of what we're already paid, since most of us at grad school level or above are stipended or salaried), we can write books or magazine articles, and compete with actual writers for entertainment money... and see if our research careers survive.