Print's Ten Worst Late Payment Offenders
Last week we asked you, the media freelancers, to tell us how long you're waiting to get paid. Scads responded! Deadbeat villains, prepare to be outed.
We should note that our methodology here involved asking people to send stuff in. So it's not necessarily definitive. But if more of you email us how long you've been waiting to get paid (please use "payment time" in the subject), we shall asymptotically approach the truth! Please send us both good and bad stories— for example ESPN Magazine (three weeks) and the Village Voice (ten days) both got props for paying promptly.
The chart above shows the ten longest waiting times we heard about. If you're responsible for paying people at one of the places named above and are unhappy with where you rank, we encourage you to start cutting the checks due to your freelancers. If you've gone through all your invoices and still think we're flat-out wrong, you can also email us. But we highly urge the former.
We'll update this in the future.
A brief explanation of the tips that went into the chart:
The Brooklyn Paper: Editor Gersh Kuntzman has made excuses for nearly two years to avoid paying a writer $40.
Whitewall Magazine: Revising down already shitty pay rate after the fact due to low revenue.
City Lights Media: Owes one freelancer $14,000—since last spring.
Self: Not answering freelancer emails; general shadiness.
RadarOnline: Delinquent for nearly a year; the site was sold to zombies since then. So, good luck collecting.
Surface Magazine: Constantly pushing back payment date, vaguely. We also hear they're late paying full time employees.
Chili Pepper Magazine: Stonily refuse to explain why they don't pay.
Fangoria Magazine: They're a horror! To get a check from, eh. Editor keeps pushing back the payment date.
Cosmopolitan en Espanol: Even somebody's agent can't get a response.
Ocean Style: Avoids emails and repeated requests for payment.