[Ads-l] Quip: Artist/writer dies of exposure (was Query from Huffington Post)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The discussion of the remuneration policy of "The Huffington Post"
reminded me of a joke that appeared in an Op-Ed in "The New York
Times" in 2013. The writer was unhappy with the requests he was being
sent to provide free labor for exposure:

"Artist Dies of Exposure" goes the rueful joke.

The writer signaled that the quip was already in circulation, and I
found a comparable joke in April 1996. The expression is highly
variable; hence, it is difficult (for me) to trace.

Date: October 26, 2013
Newspaper: The New York Times
Newspaper Location: New York, New York
Article: Slaves of the Internet, Unite!
Author: Tim Kreider
Database: Online Archive at nytimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/27/opinion/sunday/slaves-of-the-internet-unite.html

[Begin excerpt]
A familiar figure in one's 20s is the club owner or event promoter who
explains to your band that they won't be paying you in money, man,
because you’re getting paid in the far more valuable currency of
exposure. This same figure reappears over the years, like the devil,
in different guises — with shorter hair, a better suit — as the editor
of a Web site or magazine, dismissing the issue of payment as an
irrelevant quibble and impressing upon you how many hits they get per
day, how many eyeballs, what great exposure it'll offer. "Artist Dies
of Exposure" goes the rueful joke.
[End excerpt]


[ref] 1996 April 22, Usenet discussion message, Newsgroups: alt.anger,
alt.art.colleges, alt.art.marketplace, From: Steve at domain
splicer.com, Subject: Re: I am an ANGRY ARTIST!!!!!, (Google Groups
Search; Accessed May 12, 2016)[/ref]

https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.design.graphics/xuRB-tEc0UY/saO6U1n-5lUJ

[Begin excerpt]
You bet! I was given a sage piece of advice from the owner/primary of
Spiral Graphics in Albany NY (I give him a plug because his quote is
so good, plus I can't recall his name and want to give due credit)
about working for exposure. He said "Go to the census bureau, and
you'll find that every year, thousands of people die of exposure."
[End excerpt]

Garson


On Wed, May 11, 2016 at 10:00 PM, Dave Hause <dwhause at cablemo.net> wrote:
> Nothing on the specifics but I note that Huffington Post is somewhat known
> for solicitation of articles, "for the exposure" as opposed to payment, from
> writers attempting commercial success.
> Dave Hause
> -----Original Message----- From: Cohen, Gerald Leonard
> Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2016 2:42 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Query from Huffington Post: "Dumpster Fire"
>
>
> Today I received the request below about "dumpster fire"  but don't have an
> answer.
> Would someone else perhaps be able to help?
>
> Gerald Cohen
>
>
>
> From: Claire Fallon [claire.fallon at huffingtonpost.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2016 1:59 PM
> To: Cohen, Gerald Leonard
> Subject: HuffPost interview query: "Dumpster fire"
>
> Hi Gerald,
>
> I'm a Books and Culture writer at HuffPost, and I'm working on an article
> about the phrase "dumpster fire" and its rather sudden ubiquity as an
> insult. I'm interested in speaking to lexicographers like yourself who might
> have some insight on its rise to popularity.
>
> Please let me know if you'd be interested in speaking to me for the article;
> I'd love to hear your thoughts!
>
> Best,
> Claire
>
> --
> Claire Fallon
> Books & Culture Writer | THE HUFFINGTON POST
> claire.fallon at huffingtonpost.com
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org