Ex-LAT writer won't do Huffington's research

Author Lauren Lipton, a USC Annenberg grad and former LA Times writer, received a request from Arianna Huffington's research editor asking for help for a book Huffington is writing about the importance of sleep. Specifically, the ask was for Lipton to provide data she cited in a May piece about hotel beds in the Wall Street Journal. The request may have been better received if Lipton had not written in 2014: "Last week, I spent an afternoon composing the last piece of writing I will ever give away for free."

Her response to Huffington's researcher was beyond frosty, as posted by Jim Romenesko. Sample:

Hi David,

I know you’re just doing your job. So what I am about to say has nothing at all to do with you. It is solely for your boss, and I do hope you pass it along to her….

Your boss’s predatory business practices have deeply undercut the ability of all reporters, writers and editors to make any kind of living wage. The rapacious Ms. Huffington seems to believe that journalism skills are worth nothing, and that my beleaguered colleagues and I should be thrilled to help her make hundreds of millions of dollars in return for “exposure.”

If Ms. Huffington would like to know how I uncovered that particular statistic, she is free to hire me and pay me for my time and expertise.

No free book for her.