A Note to Fellow Writers: Support Your Sources

We should support our sources if we want people to support us. These are difficult times and people are seeking more for less. As the cost of living increases, this is understandable. Yet the reality is that nothing is ever really free. Although many people have chosen work that they are passionate about, some even passionate enough to volunteer, we should never forget that it is indeed still work that is being done. Energy is still consumed. Expenses are still incurred. Resources are still depleted.

As a writer, I rely heavily on other people’s sweat. For Eye on Africa, I cannot whisk around the continent and conduct research into everything that I write about. Thankfully, other people have dedicated their sweat. Other people have converted that sweat into a format that allows me to do my job. I don’t have to take a survey to know the majority of the people involved are underpaid and underappreciated— if they are paid or appreciated at all— but still I benefit. And not only do I benefit; I expect competency, professionalism and accuracy from those people. The least that I can do is to give something. Be it $1 or $1000. Something is better than nothing. A lot of bits can equal a mouthful.

In an article, in Pretoria News, Shelagh Gastrow, wrote about the difficulties facing non-profits. “Donors, the public and the government expect good documentation, good reporting, proper budgeting, strategic planning, financial management, human resource strategies, succession planning, organizational development skills, monitoring, evaluation skills and intellectual input. This all has to be paid for and the money has to come from somewhere.”

The same goes for writers and bloggers, who are usually teams of one. It’s not as if we all live in bubbles where we do not understand what is required for the writer in the next bubble to survive.

If we find other people’s work useful or we regularly visit certain sites then we should show appreciation for the hard work of the people that make those web destinations possible. Comments, ratings, affiliate programs— we know that these things keep fellow writers in business. Print publications are struggling right now meaning a lot of writers are losing their jobs. If we read an article in a magazine that is well-written and informative, we should let the editor know that writer is an asset to the publication.

And also, we need to give credit, maybe my mentioning Shelagh Gastrow will somehow benefit her and maybe it won’t. But hey, she deserves more credit than Pretoria News because her article is what inspired this one.

Culture has conditioned us to bestow gratuity upon people who serve us food and drinks, but we are not in the habit of showing the same appreciation to people who provide us with information­—and that sucks. As writers, this is a societal flaw that we should not support.

There are misconceptions that the people with the most, should do the giving, that even though the government is supposed to be a manifestation of the people, that the individual has no obligation to help society. But most of us have something to give. Maybe we can’t give as much as a professional athlete or an actress but, yes, there is something we can do. We can support our sources.