UPDATED: OpenFile cheques clearing; money still owed
Cheques went out earlier in April, although not all contributors have been paid in full yet.
By Tamara Baluja
Several freelancers say they have been paid by community website OpenFile, just seven months short of when it suspended publication.
I have been paid in full by @openfile. Thanks @wilfdinnick . Take note, @rwjboon @bbhorne
— Neal Ozano (@nealozano) April 12, 2013
@openfile paid me in full today! #Finally
— Hilary Beaumont (@HilaryBeaumont) April 12, 2013
To which, OpenFile founder and CEO Wilf Dinnick replied:
@citizenwilliams @nealozano thank you for your endless patience
— Wilf Dinnick (@WilfDinnick) April 12, 2013
Cheques went out earlier in April, although not all contributors have been paid in full and some have yet to be paid. Three contributors – Justin Ling, Justin Giovannetti and another who wished to remain anonymous – said they are still owed money from OpenFile.
[node:ad]"I know there's a bit of a hold up with some cheques,” Ling told J-Source. “According to Wilf, it's just a matter of processing those invoices, and making sure that the last few people who are owed get paid."
When journalists initially tweeted they had been receiving cheques from OpenFile, J-Source requested clarification from Dinnick on how many freelancers had been paid. He declined to comment, saying “I am going to pass discussing any of this in public, any longer.”
Dinnick has not verified the total number of contributors owed money or the total amounts owed. As such, it’s difficult to verify the percentage of contributors who have been paid.
David Topping has been compiling a total of the money he says OpenFile owed, although he does not provide the number of freelancers or their individual amounts owed. As of Tuesday, the amount has reduced to $14,387, or one-third of the amount he reported was owed on April 9.
*This article has been updated from a previous version.
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Tamara Baluja is an award-winning journalist with CBC Vancouver and the 2018 Michener-Deacon fellow for journalism education. She was the associate editor for J-Source from 2013-2014.