A colleague of mine has written a few articles for The Wine News, the formerly fairly good publication out of Florida. They're now about two months past when they promised him payment for his last story. The editor said she doesn't know when they can pay him because the magazine has not yet been paid by advertisers for that issue.
This is, of course, utter barnyard product because the standard way magazines work is to get payment up front from advertisers.
If The Wine News is not on its death bed, I sure hope it gets there soon because mistreating freelance writers this way is immoral. If the editor had ethics or honor, she would pay her writers out of her own pocket.
RIP: The Wine News