For years, reporters have been told a familiar story:

“Margins are thin.”

“We can’t raise your rates.”

“We’re doing our best.”

“This is just how the industry works.”

And like most of us, I accepted that story—until COVID hit.

When agencies suddenly couldn’t fill depositions, something remarkable happened: they started offering $200–$700 bonuses. Not months later. Not after long negotiations. Not with disclaimers. Immediately.

Where did this money suddenly come from?

Because here’s the thing: you don’t offer a $700 bonus on a job unless you’re still making plenty of money after the bonus is paid.

And if you’re still profitable after giving away $700 in a panic?

It means the margins were never as thin as we were led to believe.

COVID didn’t just disrupt the logistics of the profession. It disrupted the narrative.

For the first time, reporters saw a crack in the story agencies have relied on for decades—the story that keeps rates low, keeps transparency nonexistent, and keeps reporters convinced their value is smaller than it really is.

I’m not going to spell out every implication here. Not yet. That work belongs to a different project.

But I will say this:

COVID briefly lifted the veil. And we saw something they were never meant to see.

A workforce that knows its worth is powerful. A workforce that doesn’t? Very profitable—for someone else.

There’s a bigger truth hiding behind this moment. Much bigger. It has to do with fear, incentives, silence, and the emotional economy of our entire profession.

I’ll have much more to say about this a bit later.

But for now, I’ll leave you with the question that cracked everything open for me:

If they could afford the bonus then… what else have they always been able to afford?

Stay tuned.