Contributor network

A contributor network (or contributor platform) is an arrangement in which an online publication releases articles authored by freelance writers, known as contributors, who are not part of its staff. Depending on the program, contributors may be paid or unpaid; paid contributors are typically compensated based on the volume of articles they produce or the amount of web traffic their articles generate.[1][2]

Online publications use contributor networks to expand their content selection inexpensively. Because contributors are freelancers, publications can increase or decrease the number of contributors in their networks more easily than they can hire or fire employees. Some publications that use the contributor model exercise limited editorial oversight. For example, online articles written by Forbes contributors are not reviewed by editors prior to publication.[2]

Contributor networks are vulnerable to conflicts of interest.[2] Public relations agents and marketing companies have advertised their clients by submitting promotional articles to the contributor networks of Entrepreneur, Fast Company, Forbes, HuffPost, Inc., Insider, and Mashable.[3][4][5][6]

  1. ^ Gottlieb, Jed (20 March 2018). "Will efforts at reinvention improve contributor networks?". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Sonderman, Jeff (29 May 2012). "What the Forbes model of contributed content means for journalism". Poynter Institute. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  3. ^ Christian, Jon (2 July 2018). "One Of The Web's Most Prolific Online Marketing Writers Has Been Promoting His Clients In Articles For Forbes, Entrepreneur, And Inc. Magazine". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  4. ^ Christian, Jon (5 December 2017). "How brands secretly buy their way into Forbes, Fast Company, and HuffPost stories". The Outline. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  5. ^ Benton, Joshua (9 February 2022). "An incomplete history of Forbes.com as a platform for scams, grift, and bad journalism". Nieman Lab. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  6. ^ Ledbetter, James (5 August 2021). "Digital Payola: Policing the Open Contributor Network". In Schiffrin, Anya (ed.). Media Capture. Columbia University Press. pp. 104–116. doi:10.7312/schi18882-008. ISBN 9780231548021. Retrieved 19 February 2022 – via De Gruyter.