Orato Media Corp.
525 Seymour St, Vancouver, BC
V6B 3H7, Canada
Phone: +1-604.331.7468
Fax: +1-604.689.3009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Orato.com Hiring and Training Journalists in Wake of Media Layoffs
May 25, 2009 Vancouver’s Orato.com, a forward-thinking online magazine with the tagline “speak from experience” written by both professional and amateur “Correspondents,” officially re-launched its press and recruitment ad campaign today with an eye to attracting both novice (students and recent graduates) and veteran journalists looking to expand their employment options in the current economic environment.
According to Paper Cuts, nearly 25,000 jobs have been lost in the print sector since 2008, leaving a considerable number of talented and trained personnel looking to extend reporting skills to cyberspace for pay. While newspapers and magazines consider survival strategies in the wake of media attrition, Orato’s owner Sam Yehia says, “We are positioning ourselves as a competitive and attractive client for reporters who want to add Search Engine Optimization and Web writing to their arsenal of skills as freelancers looking for income online.”
The site has been online since June 2006, but with a new management team as of January it completely re-imagined its editorial vision, design and business model. The new iteration puts journalists first and offers a potent combination of features its competition does not:
- All articles are thoroughly edited by Orato’s professional staff within 24 hours of posting.
- There is no application system – a journalist’s first article speaks for itself. Content goes live and earns immediately.
- Editors do not impose a monthly or quarterly quota or deadline.
- Orato does not demand exclusive rights. Copyright is retained by the journalist who can repurpose work if he/she owns electronic rights.
- Journalists are automatically promoted after 25 articles (if 3 are Editor’s Choice) and receive an extra 10% of ad revenue.
- Writers receive 20-30% of all ad revenue on their work forever (including video), paid out monthly by PayPal.
- Reporters can upload a professional profile page with a full resume, links to other work and recommendations from staff.
- The site offers a design layout tastefully balancing ads and text rather than a “link farm” on which content is buried or interrupted.
- Journalists work from a virtual office and telecommute, posting their work from anywhere in the field.
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Joy Gugeler says, “Orato today launched an aggressive Google Adwords campaign to build upong its existing roster of 750 writers. We will grow content and traffic to reward Correspondents with both pay and profile. They post video, audio, photos and articles live; our editors review the material in 24 hours; readers learn at a glance, and our writers earn from the first ad click. We hope those in search of a value-added training will consider us a vital new client in the freelance marketplace.” For a glance at Orato’s FAQ or Content Guidelines, visit the site.
About Orato.com
Orato means “I speak” in Latin, a moniker that aptly describes how Correspondents tell audiences about newsworthy experiences and offer trustworthy information and verifiable sources for those in search of reliable reporting. Orato is hiring writers who are participating in, as well as observing, the activities they cover, making them genuine experts with knowledge to share. The Vancouver-based magazine has been online since June 2006 and is privately owned by Sam Yehia. Staff profiles are available online.
Contact Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Joy Gugeler, at editor@orato.com or 604.608.1070 for more information.
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