FreedomWorks is dumping all its bloggers.
The tea party-affiliated group has come under fire for spending funds in questionable ways that don’t involve traditional campaign-related activities. In an interview with The Daily Caller late last week, FreedomWorks CEO Matt Kibbe claimed that the group’s relationship with Glenn Beck is not “unseemly” despite the fact that his media empire allegedly receives $1,000,000 from FreedomWorks annually.
In October of last year, BuzzFeed described the group as being “strapped for cash” in a state of “financial disarray.” In that story, six independent sources confirmed that the group has “deeply mismanaged finances.”
The bloggers aren’t entirely being tossed out. Rather, they’re adopting a HuffPostian way of life, as in ‘don’t pay your bloggers.’
When delivering such bad news, always good to start on a positive note. Then, accentuate how “exciting” things are, throw in a typo and delay the bad news as long as possible. As an alternative, why not try the simple, direct approach? Example lede: You’re all out. Want something that cushions the blow without making them wait an eternity? Example lede #2: We really wish we didn’t have to write this, but you’re all out.
This is the letter bloggers received:
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Dear Bloggers,
I would like to thank you all so everything you have done to make the Freedom Works blog a success. We appreciate all of your hard work, and your efforts have proved invaluable to the limited government movement. It’s an exciting time over here are [sic] the Freedom Works HQ, though I write this email with a bit of unfortunate news.
Freedom Works will be restructuring our blog in the next few weeks, and the new format will require a bigger focus of resources on highlighting our local grassroots efforts happening all across the country. We are shifting towards an unpaid contributor model with more activist involvement. Volunteers, community leaders, and local blogs will all contribute, whether it’s an article, 1-2 minute video, advice for others, an event recap, or a simple top ten list. The new unpaid contributor model means that we will be terminating paid contracts, scheduled to take effect 30 days from this notice on May 25.
I want to thank you all again for being a part of the FreedomWorks team. If you have blogs in the future related to us or our issues I’d be happy to republish them on our site. Additionally, I will make sure to keep all of you updated on our BlogCon event in the fall and hope you will all be able to attend.
Thank you again for all of your efforts.
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On Friday, RedState contributor Ben Howe, unleashed his distaste for the organization.
“I’m unfollowing @Freedomworks,” he said on Twitter. “Too much I know, too much I’ve seen. Now they’re screwing over some good people. I can’t support orgs that rake in millions on lies, want me to push their content, and now won’t even pay bloggers. And no, I was not one of their bloggers. But I know people who were. Someone’s gotta pay for Kibbe’s $500k salary amiright? I’ve said my piece. There’s some good people over at @freedomworks. I’m less and less convinced their names are Adam or Matt. Funny story, they were actually my VERY FIRST client. They loved the idea of finding ways to support bloggers like me at the time.”