LA Times columnist on the demise of freelancers
- Thread starter Caroline
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Interesting article. Also depressing.
EDIT: Now that I've put some thought into it - what I find most interesting about the article is the question of what news we're missing since well-researched journalism isn't being paid for anymore.
EDIT: Now that I've put some thought into it - what I find most interesting about the article is the question of what news we're missing since well-researched journalism isn't being paid for anymore.
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I try to be optimistic, I really do. And part of me wants to believe that at some point, the pendulum will swing the other way and people will realize that so much of what's out there is just fluff. But honestly, that goes way beyond optimism. In fact, I might just commit myself right now for my insanity.
Good, solid professions are wilting away around us constantly, but we're too busy on our iPhones to look around us and see it.
Good, solid professions are wilting away around us constantly, but we're too busy on our iPhones to look around us and see it.
I don't believe that good writing will ever become a thing of the past. People can tell the difference between good journalism and those quick content sites. Good journalism will prevail.
The sad thing is, a lot of people seem to prefer crap these days. Newspaper layoffs and the rise of things like Twitter and Wikipedia seem to point in that direction. I don't think quality journalism, or newspapers for that matter, will ever disappear altoghether, but it may never be as prevalent as it once was.
And that makes me sad.
And that makes me sad.
Not to mention, it’s getting harder to pay the bills with real journalism. I write for Demand Studios so I can afford to support my family as a single mother and I can make enough to pay my bills and it is steady. Once upon a time, I was able to do that corresponding with local newspapers.
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I sometimes wonder, as I work more and more to maintain the same rate of cash flow, whether freelancing is going through the same economic slump as everyone else, or whether this is all part of a greater and more final decline. I can only hope for the former and keep working. This lady just don't do content no more. 
You're assuming people will know the crap from the real thing. I don't believe that's a safe assumption to make.
At one point I was writing book and film reviews for a daily newspaper, columns for an alternative weekly and hard news stories for a weekly minority newspaper. I was the first and only writer I knew to do all three simultaneously.
But the daily paper doesn't use freelancers anymore. The alternative weekly was purchased by the daily paper which gutted its content, got rid of all the editors, writers, columnists and artists and just turned it into an entertainment supplement and the minority papers only play at journalism, they aren't serious about it.
The last nationally circulated article I had appeared in a publication that paid me $200 for a 600 word essay. Two years and two editor changes later, I can't even get a response to my story queries.
It's as tough and as tight as I've ever seen it and I've been freelancing since 1994. I don't have to be concerned about filing with the I.R.S. my income from my 2009 freelance writing gigs. Things might get better, but I've yet to see any great demand for better journalism.
I'm unfortunately convinced that it's a false assumption.
Most people don't can't, and won't.
Hi, All:
That is a depressing story. Unfortunately, it's not surprising. I'm the editor of a real estate trade magazine in Chicago. The magazine is simply dying, slowly, but still it's on its last legs. I used to freelance regularly for the Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, local papers in Indiana and dozens of trade magazines. Today, I'm working harder than ever to keep my income at marginal levels. And, yes, I'm doing much of it through sites such as Demand Studios. Some days I find this to be really depressing.
Of course, I need only look at my friends and relatives in other fields who are either laid off, being constantly asked to take unpaid furlough days or are being asked to complete the work of three employees without extra pay to realize that things could be worse. Content writing is a drag, but it is helping me pay the bills. I do miss the days of writing long feature stories for $750, $900 or $1,200. But they seem to be gone, at least for me.
Dan
That is a depressing story. Unfortunately, it's not surprising. I'm the editor of a real estate trade magazine in Chicago. The magazine is simply dying, slowly, but still it's on its last legs. I used to freelance regularly for the Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, local papers in Indiana and dozens of trade magazines. Today, I'm working harder than ever to keep my income at marginal levels. And, yes, I'm doing much of it through sites such as Demand Studios. Some days I find this to be really depressing.
Of course, I need only look at my friends and relatives in other fields who are either laid off, being constantly asked to take unpaid furlough days or are being asked to complete the work of three employees without extra pay to realize that things could be worse. Content writing is a drag, but it is helping me pay the bills. I do miss the days of writing long feature stories for $750, $900 or $1,200. But they seem to be gone, at least for me.
Dan
I've only been writing for two and a half years but although this is supposedly such a tough time for starting out, I haven't had more than what I judge to be beginner's difficulties. I just did a feature article that paid $800.- and a smaller one for $300.-, so there's definitely still a market out there.
I live in Canada but query and write internationally, maybe you guys could look into that as well if not much is forthcoming in the States. Why limit ourselves to the country we live in??
I live in Canada but query and write internationally, maybe you guys could look into that as well if not much is forthcoming in the States. Why limit ourselves to the country we live in??
Who gets to decide whether something is crap? It sure as heck shouldn't be the writer.
Freelance rates falling is entirely the fault of freelancers, new ones who think writing for nothing is good, and writing for almost nothing is great, and experienced ones who refuse to fight for better rates and a system that stops giveaway writing.
But I went trhough journalism school, I've worked for newspapers, and I think this article is nonsense. If you need to pay freelancers to do investigative reporting, you've already lost the war.
Freelance rates falling is entirely the fault of freelancers, new ones who think writing for nothing is good, and writing for almost nothing is great, and experienced ones who refuse to fight for better rates and a system that stops giveaway writing.
But I went trhough journalism school, I've worked for newspapers, and I think this article is nonsense. If you need to pay freelancers to do investigative reporting, you've already lost the war.