Reply #64: I think I explained it quite clearly.

[Atman]

I don't disagree with you about being paid to post HERE. As in, "Mr. Activist, I'll give you five cents for every post you make on Democratic Underground" or "I'll pay you $100 a week to post on Democratic Underground." You're focused too much on DU...you said no one is paid to post on DU, a statement with which I agree...no one is paid to post specifically and exclusively on DU. But that isn't the message you were obviously trying to convey. You were inferring that there are simply no posts on DU that are here as a result of someone getting paid to put them here. I disagree 100%; people are paid to post on DU along with any site they can find like DU. I've said this three times now. Why is it so difficult to grasp?

And yes, you can ask what my experience is: I've owned a publishing and promotions company, I've written press releases for years for a variety of clients. I'd like to link you to one such release regarding the Kerry/Bush election which was picked up by CBS, E-Trade Financial, Denver Post, LA Times, Yahoo News, and half a dozen other major outlets -- it sounds and reads exactly like an objective news story, except for that I wrote every word of it myself and received compensation for it. It was published by every one of those news organizations verbatim, without changing a word of what I wrote. I can't/wont link it because it contains personal information which I'd rather not put online here, but it's easily accessible to those who know where to click.

In addition, I've worked for two advertising agencies as both a designer and copy writer, and I've even been paid to write magazine "articles" which appeared as content though they were actually nothing more than long advertisements for my clients. I know this business. DU is cheap advertising.

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