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BREAKING NEWS: Blogs Don't Make Alot of Money
EFLBloggers at this summer's political conventions brought heightened visibility to blogging, but the money, for most bloggers, is still missing. If you think those Web journals of opinions and obsessions are a way to get rich, consider Jeff Soyer, a self-described "gay gun nut" in Vermont. I'd rather not. Oh, what the hey. Soyer, who runs the journal Alphecca.com, pleaded for donations last month alongside an image of a tip jar topped by gun-toting cartoon character Yosemite Sam. "Ten bucks buys a box of bullets or feeds my cats for a week," he wrote on the blog. Days passed and he received nothing. "By next week this domain could belong to a porno site," he subsequently posted. "Maybe you folks think that would be a better thing. I'm starting to think so, too." Only after other bloggers linked to his request did he receive enough donations to pay the $117 for a domain name and a year of Web hosting fees. He's not the only blogger not getting rich. This is a news flash, according to AP. "There's a very tiny percentage of people who are making anywhere close to a living from blogs," said Sreenath Sreenivasan, professor of new media at Columbia University. Andrew Sullivan, former editor of The New Republic, has a high-profile blog that takes American Express and PayPal payments and posts an address for checks or money orders. Bloggers point to Sullivan as the blogger most likely to be succeeding. No, he's the only LLL that's succeeding. But Sullivan said in an e-mail he makes his living through freelance writing and speaking. "I've managed to pay all my expenses and an intern and give myself a minuscule salary, thanks to the generosity of my readers," he wrote. "I couldn't live off the blog alone, and I see no prospect of that happening in the near future, despite having one of the biggest audiences." The money that is in blogland goes to only a few. The usual Dummycrap zero-sum explanation of economics, which is 100% wrong. Turner Broadcasting System Inc. and "The Manchurian Candidate" movie remake have advertised on a handful of blogs. Nike hired blog company Gawker Media to produce a three-week blog this summer. Must have missed that one. What do they think of the terror wars? Henry Copeland, owner of blogAds.com, said some of the bloggers he represents make $120,000 a year from ads - though he won't say how many - and that "dozens" make $1,000 a month. His clients include Glenn Reynolds, a law professor who writes a popular conservative blog called Instapundit.com, and Tucker Max, whose site features his own drunken exploits. Can't mention Reynolds without counterbalancing with the "drunken exploits" of some other guy. Conservatives, drunks, same difference. The two are equal, you see. A handful of organizations have added paid bloggers to their staffs. Among the bloggers is 19-year-old Towson University student Brian Stelter, whose TVNewser.com blog about the television news business was bought this year by Mediabistro.com, a Web site that posts events and job listings for journalists. The money is "good, for a college student," said Stelter, who recently broke a story about MSNBC airing incorrect information from a satirical Web site. "It pays my tuition. For a living, it wouldn't work. I'm hoping I won't be blogging forever. I'm hoping to go into journalism, not blogging." Hello? McFly? You are PAID to blog. You ARE a paid journalist. Some people have no clue. Meh. There is more if you care to read it.
Posted by: Chris W. 2004-09-13 |
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