Josh Wolf media-blogging for CNet

Josh Wolf spent 226 days in jail for refusing to turn over unaired video of a protest in San Francisco. I blogged about his case for weeks and met him after his release at a Media Alliance event. Now I notice that he is doing media commentary and social activism for for CNet.

One of Wolf’s recent blog posts takes the Huffington Post to task for getting a big infusion of venture cash while insisting that it will not pay the roughly 1,800 guest bloggers who supplement the efforts of 43-paid staff. He writes:

“The Huffington Post is clearly earning a significant amount of money from advertising and is well on its way toward becoming a profitable company. I understand that the company couldn’t afford to pay its bloggers when the site first launched. I can even understand why it might not be possible today, but I find (CEO Ken) Lerer’s commitment to never pay the bloggers at the Post disconcerting. These talented writers have helped make the Huffington Post into the economic success it is quickly becoming, and to suggest that they should never share in that success seems shameful.”

I agree but now we need software systems to track the contributions that writers make to larger enterprises so they can get paid some share of the revenues that come in. That would create the option at least to reward contributors. Right now it’s not easy and therefore it’s not standard. Anyhow, nice to see Wolf on the media beat.