About WGP
Writers Getting Paid is a site all about the tips, tricks, secrets, and strengths of writers who've figured out how to make a living doing what they love. I interview my friends and colleagues who get paid to write; and I share all of their insights here with you. [More...]
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I'm a writer and photographer based in San Francisco. Check out my work at MattBaume.com.
Blogs Archive
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Welcome to What May or May not be the Future of Journalism
Posted on September 1, 2010 | View CommentsI would like to make a few points, and to do so in a somewhat rambling fashion. Tomorrow, I am speaking on a panel at the annual meeting of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. The topic is one of my favorite subjects: THE... -
Video: Where Your News Comes From
Posted on May 19, 2010 | View CommentsHere’s a video that I made today of my process for sifting RSS feeds to find news stories. This is about 20 minutes of work, time-lapsed down to 1 minute. I start the day with a few thousand items to read, and I very quickly... -
Fourteen Things Bloggers and Broadcasters Have to Learn from Each Other
Posted on May 2, 2010 | View CommentsThis is a presentation I’m giving May 2 at the RemakeCamp Unconference at the University of San Francisco. I’m posting it here so it’s available online — but sadly this version doesn’t include any of the glorious Keynote animation or the melodious sound of my... -
Why CBS5′s Brittney Gilbert Loves the Newsroom
Posted on April 29, 2010 | View Comments“It has a lot of energy,” said CBS5′s Brittney Gilbert of the TV station’s newsroom as we sat down to lunch at Sai’s Vietnamese Restaurant, just down the street from the office. She added, “but it’s also really loud in there.” Brittney’s one of those... -
When should writers take their words offline?
Posted on April 12, 2010 | View CommentsA startling success story: CaliforniaWatch attracted readers to their exposé on seismically unsound UC Berkeley buildings by distributing fliers. On paper. To humans. In meatspace! It’s a strategy so obvious (to anyone who lived pre-Internet) I’m surprised we don’t see it more often. Yes, of... -
NewsTilt: A Brand New Market for Journalism
Posted on April 7, 2010 | View CommentsTHE FUTURE OF JOURNALISM!!! Reporters will work for themselves! In a crowded market, niche-journalists will thrive! Publications will get out of the content-generation game, and will instead bid on each story in a sort of daily news-auction! Is NewsTilt on to something? Maybe. Who knows?... -
Don’t Fall For Free: Harlan Ellison and How Unpaid Amateurs Mess Things Up
Posted on March 22, 2010 | View CommentsJust a quick post about delightful curmudgeon Harlan Ellison. This video, in which he tears someone’s request for a free interview to shreds, is required viewing: “I don’t take a piss without getting paid for it.” Oh, that Harlan. He seems fun. I kind of... -
How Blogs Forced a Rethinking of the News Industry — and its (temporary) Death
Posted on March 19, 2010 | View CommentsSome great comments appeared on my post about the changing nature of the news industry. JC Hewitt pointed out that a radical rethinking is called for, and I absolutely agree — provided that there’s still an industry left to rethink. JC suggested, “look at the... -
SFist Editor Brock Keeling Can’t Wait for the Future, is Full of Surprises
Posted on March 18, 2010 | View CommentsSFist editor Brock Keeling doesn’t even need to pause to think about it: “Best time,” he replies instantly to my question about whether now is the best or the worst time in history to try to make a living as a writer. “The future is...