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Writing for Free

 Before I was a radio news journalist, I was a DJ. In the 1970s, that's what people were called when they spun records, vinyl and talked live on the radio. I was pretty good and almost made a living at it, but every time the new rating book came out, there was always talk and sometimes action involving the DJs. Moved, fired, demoted; your position was dependent upon the number of people who were listening. I noticed this never happened with the news people. Their jobs weren't dependent on the ratings. The FCC also required local news on the radio, and that meant if you were good, you could make a living doing the news. I had an English degree and an attitude and was lucky to meet the right people. I did the news on various stations, mostly WMOT-FM, for almost 40 years. I was paid to write and deliver the news. Now, I'm writing for free with the hope that someday in the future, I might be paid for something I wrote a couple of years ago. An observation, not a complaint, but what if I had sold a novel in my 20s instead of my 60s? 


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