Quote Originally Posted by Pete View Post
Most those writers had already been laid off and I'm sure Tramel and Carlson were not getting increases and I know all the writers there had been forced into periodic unpaid furloughs.

Even if Tramel is on the line for the debt, he can file bankruptcy and move on.

Nobody else involved left a steady job, except... Jenni Carlson. Good luck finding another full-time writing gig when you already have 95% layoffs and all those people are taking peanuts just to have some income. Tramel hustled up and took the job at the World but you can bet that was at a significant salary reduction.

Most would be shocked to know how little freelance writers are paid these days. Most earn around $20-$50 per article.
We need media to have a functioning democracy. It's a real conundrum. Media enterprises were fat and happy and have continually failed to adjust. There has to be a way to make it work financially, but even the current pay wall thing is broken.

I don't understand why these former newspapers don't create a Spotify-type concept for local media organizations. Am I going to pay to subscribe to the Austin Statesman to read one article. No the hell not. But, what if I paid 10.99 a month to read content from any organization I want?

There has to be a way.