I found this fascinating quote today:
But in a discussion with a couple of other journalism educators, I heard one of journalism’s dirty little secrets — freelancers are second-class citizens. In a time when it is obvious that most of our students will spend large parts of their careers as freelancers, some mid-career journalists admitted that freelancers were looked down on in the news business. They were paid less. They didn’t command the same respect as “real” reporters who worked full-time. No one used to want to be a freelancer.2009 Chicago Media Future Conference, May 2009
“Freelancers are second-class citizens.” Dirty little secret? Hardly. many freelancers are successful. Many are not. I think the dirty little secret is really that once you are tossed from a news organization it is difficult to find your way back into another one. And then a journalist takes on that blinking status – is he or isn’t he, really doing journalism? Could there perhaps be some PR clients sneaking into his story ideas?
The real “dirty little secret” that’s not so much a secret anymore is the amount of PR passing for journalism in newspapers and magazines these days, simple rewrite work for the “real” journalists on the payroll.
I hope, as Barb says, that next newsrooms will hold a place of honor for its hard-working, clear-thinking creative freelancers who have the guts to stick to their calling. And even more than a place of honor, I hope next newsrooms have a big fat budget line for paying them.
You should read the whole article.
