By Orin Zebest via Creative Commons

The Internet is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?

This week I looked at pictures posted online of an out-of-state relative’s baby in all her rosy-cheeked sweetness. I followed a friend’s spontaneous road trip to the East Coast by reading her blog updates. I used MapQuest to find my way to a weekend class in an unfamiliar part of town.

I did all this while sitting on my comfortable couch.

Convenience has a price tag.

Ask anyone who recently worked in news or publishing or any other business that has deflated under the weight of the Web.

The Internet  stole my job. So did greedy corporate owners who shaved costs by outsourcing writing and editing. Not only did these things blast countless careers into near oblivion, they also took the remains and scattered them among the masses as a freebie.

I get it. The Internet is immediate. Its variety is infinite. Readers can respond and react instantly. Even as a former ink-stained wretch, I find it easier to log on to get my news than to bend down to pick up the bundle of newsprint tossed on my porch three times a week. Worse yet, most of what’s printed is old news before the ink dries.

Isn’t the Internet amazing? Now, online forums, blogging platforms and content sites such as Examiner.com give anyone with nimble fingers and a keyboard the chance to write. Now, a J-school degree is no longer a prerequisite for a byline. Things like site traffic and search engine ranking can sometimes decide the thickness of a writer’s wallet.

It has come down to this: Former salaried writers circle prospective freelance work like hungry lions at a watering hole.  My e-mail inbox bursts with offers to write online in the off-chance that if I earn enough clicks, I’ll get some cash. At least once a month I’m asked to write something — without pay — as a favor.

Favors are a wonderful thing, but freebies do not pay the bills.

It’s time to take a stand. So I am, just as this Washington freelancer writer did on her blog.

I signed her petition. I won’t write for free anywhere but my Web site. Period.