How Publishers-Turned-Platforms Pay Their Amateur Contributors

By: Ricardo Bilton | Digiday

As digital publishers look for new ways to make money, many of them are chasing the the publisher-as-platform model. From financial sites like Forbes and The Street to entertainment sites like BuzzFeed and Entertainment Weekly, publishers have been opening up their platforms to let contributors — in some cases, rank amateurs — write under their brands.

Putting aside concerns that such tactics might dilute the brands of top-tier publishers, one wonders: How are these contributors getting paid, if at all? Here’s how the methods and payment structures of some of the bigger contributor networks stack up.