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editorial

13 Oct 2011

Buy A Writer A Meal

By Newmatilda.com

lunch

Writers need to eat and NM writers like Ben Eltham are especially hungry creatures. Want to help? Chip in to the NM contributor budget and buy Ben lunch

Thanks to of our readers, we raised enough cash in our recent fundraiser to cover our base costs. That means the rent is paid, the electricity is on and the site will remain online and delivering free content. It’s a bare bones budget, to say the least, and we fell well short of the target we need to pay our writers what they’re worth.

That’s why today we’re launching a campaign to feed Ben Eltham. You can buy Ben lunch here. You’ll go into the running to win a swanky meal with NM’s national correspondent and you’ll be making a much-needed contribution to our writers’ budget.

New Matilda’s contributors are our great strength. Over the years, we’ve assembled a cohort of sharp and savvy writers to bring you new ideas and fresh perspectives on current events.

We work closely with them to make sure that the articles we publish are accurate and that they don’t parrot the lines getting a run elsewhere. And to be honest, they work hard for us. We want to pay them what they’re worth. Writers need to eat, after all.

We’ve teamed up with Do Gooder to bring you this campaign. Do Gooder is a great new initiative that provides campaigners with an easy-to-use set of online tools to interact with their communities.

See what we’ve done with it — and buy Ben a meal — here.

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Rockjaw
Posted Thursday, 13 October 11 at 10:48AM

All you young lads think about these days is food! food! food! - don’t you one track minded kids realise there is more to life than food?

Donation on its way!

This user is a New Matilda supporter.
Rockjaw
Posted Thursday, 13 October 11 at 10:56AM

Good Heavens!!! I have just read the small print!! I am in the running to have a meal with a JOURNALIST?

I have made my donation already, too late now, but if I win win this thing I place it VERY clearly on record that the prize should go to somebody who DESERVES the agony more than I do!

This user is a New Matilda supporter.
Jandamarra
Posted Thursday, 13 October 11 at 12:37PM

I’d rather buy lunch for a journalist I don’t agree with. If I went to lunch with Ben, we’d end agreeing on everything….how boring is that?

This user is a New Matilda supporter.
Jane E
Posted Thursday, 13 October 11 at 3:16PM

Don’t you people have Hare Krishnas in Sydney?

At Gopals in Swanston Street (in Melbourne for the geographically illiterate), you can eat well for a $5 donation, but they will feed you for free if you are skint - or they used to, anyway.

There’s also Lentil as Anything (at the Convent in Abbotsford), where you pay what you think the food is worth. You could try offering an hour of washing up.

This user is a New Matilda supporter.
Rockjaw
Posted Friday, 14 October 11 at 6:05AM

Good Heavens Jane! Lentils? Are you serious? Creativity requires a lot more sustainage than lentils!

Oh the horror!

Good Bouef Steak Tartar and a bottle of chateauneuf du pape will see our Ben writing up a storm about the benefits of a gold backed monetary system in no time!

This is a perfect opportunity to fatten our contributors up a little so that we might sit back and enjoy the benefits of well fed journalism.

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Perfidious Rex
Posted Friday, 14 October 11 at 11:35PM

Sending my donation as soon as I see the article on the benefits of a gold backed monetary system.

In all seriousness this would be far more beneficial to NM readers than another story on carbon tax or asylum seekers….

This user is a New Matilda supporter.
David Grayling
Posted Saturday, 15 October 11 at 8:23PM

While this method of trying to increase the money flow might be quirky, I’m not sure that it really does the image of N.M. much good. It seems to border on begging!

I suppose the bottom line is that the Australian public, if a website is putting out the kind of articles they want to read and discuss, will subscribe.

Some of the articles on N.M. often have between 0 and 5 comments which suggests to me they are too esoteric, too narrow.

Perhaps the administrators should be more selective in what articles they choose to publish. Trying to get broad news coverage is admirable but if it’s too broad or too specialized, it will only appeal to a few people.

I want to see N.M. survive and grow. It has potential and it is partially filling an important hole in Australian publishing. However, I’m not sure that that potential is being achieved and being short-staffed is only one of the answers.

P.S. A recent comments box would provide real interest on the home page and the number of comments should appear on ALL articles so people don’t have to download the whole post to see if there’s a new comment.

Also, the use of moderation on some articles seems unnecessary and so is the amount of time it takes to have some of these comments approved.

P.P.S. If I meet Ben, I’ll be happy to buy him lunch!

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ninetynine
Posted Sunday, 16 October 11 at 1:38PM

I don’t think it sounds like they are begging, David. It’s just a cute appeal to chip in to the NM contributors’ budget - to remunerate and retain good writers. Many readers have expressed that they’d rather chip in with a lump sum than pay small monthly instalments, so this is a great idea. Yeah!

But let’s get this straight - do we go in the in draw to win a “swanky meal” as promised above or a “slap-up dinner for two with Ben” as it says on the entry page? Which is it? Is Ben cooking the swanky slap-up?! Hmmm… I’ll chip for his haircut!