First Paw Media is making waves in the freelance community by developing a payment schedule for freelancers and contributors that bucks the conventional system.

Robert Forto, the managing partner of First Paw Media, "the decision to address payment concerns arose from a desire to fix a system—endemic to media in general, not just outdoor—that is “very, very broken.”

“Our contributors, whether they are full-time or freelancers, are the lifeblood of these [media] organizations and we have to take care of them,” Forto said. “They are the people that make this stuff go. Great storytelling is, frankly, what it’s all about.”