Do people not understand the labor behind an article? First you have to get a total stranger to trust you and open up about your topic, which often, is difficult and emotional. An hour of conversation is around 10,000 words we transcribe. Repeat that with all subjects.

Then you have to fact-check what your subjects said, i.e. are the things they say truthfull. This require a lot of research and open tabs. Then, you want to also back those statements up with data and related events, which also requires research and a lot of tabs and more calls.

After you cry about this awful and cruel world, you then have to manage to craft a cohesive, enjoyable, & well-written piece of work out of multiple people’s rants, while driving the point of the story, but also making sure it’s accurate so you and the publication don’t get sued.

Amid all of the emotional and intellectual labor, we often get work that pays less than $100 per a 1000 word, and we do it for our readers, the community, justice, passion etc. Let’s say I spent 10 hours on the article, I only get $10 an hour, far below minimum wage in NYC.

Journalism is not easy and often very stressful, please be kind to writers.