Here at FBLA, we try to be sensitive about the topic of lay-offs. Oh we thought we were so clever when we chose Memorial Day (get it?) when we posted about the whopping 3,000 jobs lost in the newspaper industry. Who knew that only a couple of months later we would be talking about 13,000 jobs lost.

We would like to point out that Mediabistro has a pretty kick ass job board.

We also came across Michelle Goodman's piece in the NYT about when to work for free:

"We really love your work. And we have a great opportunity for you at our exciting new media venture."

Translation:

"We're launching a new Web site/magazine/start-up and we'd love to have you do some consulting work for us. For free."

continued...

We found this on Craigslist:

Need a Funny Celebrity-obsessed Blogger

Reply to: job-811133848@craigslist.org

Date: 2008-08-24, 3:14PM PDT

We have a web site along the lines of wwtdd.com, dlisted.com, thesuperficial.com, theblemish.com, and so on. We're looking for a writer who loves the celebrity gossip world and can provide 7-10 blog posts daily. Please check out the sites above for examples of requirements.

Some of the interests and requirements for the writer are:

- as mentioned, a passion for the latest celebrity news
- enough time during the day to do this (estimate 2-3 hours per day, should be spread out a bit as the latest celeb news develops
- creativity, wittiness, a bit of an edge, and definitely a sense of humor
- a good work ethic; we can't afford to hire someone who just doesn't write the content one day without telling us and having a good reason
- a knowledge of basic HTML and also working with resizing images and taking high quality screenshots
- there will be a bit of working with sexy images of female celebrities (no nudity), so anyone applying should know that up front

In an effort to weed out potential candidates, I'll also explain the day to day work you'll be doing. The person we hire will of course get a much more detailed explanation, but here's the gyst:

1) Using the main sources of celebrity news on the web, you will pick 7-10 articles (not necessarily at the same time, just throughout the day) that you think would be good to write about. If you love celebrity news, you already know these sources. Otherwise, if you email us for more info, we'll let you know.

Oh yes - there's lots more after the break.

continued...

From Craigslist:

CALLING ALL WRITERS (ANY)

Reply to: gigs-796679111@craigslist.org

Date: 2008-08-14, 11:42AM PDT

If you are willing to help new publication with one short article, contact as ASAP. We are looking for articles about Rode (sic) Drive, shopping, dinning, entertainment, night life and luxury living.

* Location: ANY
* it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
* Compensation: no pay

Is it technically fantasy writing if you write about shopping and luxury for free?

From our mediabistro.com job board:

Online Movie Writers

Publication or Company: Cinemasaurus

Industry: Internet/Online/New Media, Writing

Salary: Hourly

Job Duration: Full Time

Job Location: San Francisco, CA USA

Job Requirements: We're building a revolutionary online movie recommendation system that's powered by movie experts instead of algorithms. Our company is founded by web and video pioneer Stuart Skorman.

We are a San Francisco based company hiring for a variety of full-time and part-time positions. Telecommuters are encouraged to apply. Applicants should be succinct, clear writers; the position entails writing a large number of extremely short movie comparisons. To apply, please pick one of your favorite films and list five movies that you would recommend to someone who liked that film. Please provide a brief reason for each recommendation: What makes that movie a good match for your favorite? Each reason should be fewer than 20 words.

Please reply to this post with your resume, cover letter, and recommendations as described above. Paste all information in the body of an email as well as attach as separate files.

Apply here.