I would like to become a freelance journalist – I will produce articles and video in Russian and English. What would be the best place to start.
I do not care about pay as I will continue working on math, but I do want a good sized audience. Any advice?
Что же вы козлы не отвечаете?
There’s actually a rule here that you must use English language, so let’s stick with that.
I am sorry – will use only English.
You could start a blog. Publish your articles and videos there, start building an audience.
First, find some on-line or paper journals which take freelancers, magazines included.
Second, learn what kind of query they want. If you don’t know what a query is, you have some homework to do.
Third, figure out something to write about, do the preliminary work, and send in the query.
Of course, if you knew something about the structure of a piece it would be helpful.
Do you?
Please note: I have a journalism degree and work as a professional editor.
First, go to journalism school. There’s some good ones out there.
Next, take an internship or two to build up some contacts and get some experience.
Third, take a job in journalism, at a magazine, newspaper, TV, or radio station. Get more experience. Learn the difference between “hard news” and “soft opinion piece.” (Hint: Anything you produce on YouTube will be soft opinion piece unless you already know what the “inverted pyramid” style of writing is and know how to use it. Practice writing strong leads.
Once you have some experience in true journalism, getting interviews, editing your own work, understanding how to craft a news story and you’ve built up a lot of contacts and know people in the industry, you may have built up a reputation as a solid journalist. At that point, you start contacting people you’ve worked with over the years and let them know you are available for freelance work. Some of them might call you for assignments, if in fact, your previous work is known to them and was good quality.
Another route would be to get your hands on a paper copy of Writer’s Market. This is a list of periodicals and publications that take freelance work. It gives editor contact information, writer’s guidelines, payscale, writing requirements. You send a query off to editors, possibly with a writing sample or a pitch for a story idea. When they call you and say you’re hired, you go do the work and turn it in on time, following all of the criteria set forth by the entity for which you are working. Then sit back and wait to get paid.
Writer’s Market also has a website and offers many tips and guidance on how to write a query letter. It will not teach you how to write in journalism style, but I can tell you this: Writing in journalism style ain’t nothing like your English composition classes.
First, perhaps, you might have to get used to the idea that shooting a video and posting it on YouTube is NOT journalism. Writing a blog is not journalism. You have to interview many people with differing viewpoints, keep your own opinions and actions out of the story (never use “I” or “me” in a story or refer to yourself in any way – that makes it a column, or an opinion piece), and make sure your quotes are attributed, your facts are verified and corroborated, and your sources for facts cited so your editors can verify that all the work you’ve done is true and correct and you aren’t just making stuff up to get yourself published. If you want to see how it doesn’t work, check out the movie “Shattered Glass.” If you want to see how it does work, watch “All the President’s Men” or “Absence of Malice.” I was required to watch the second movie in my Communication Law class in college.
The most important thing I’d like to emphasize to you is that journalism is about writing, not shooting video. Even when we are talking about producing a piece for broadcast (radio or television) – either way, the piece starts with writing. The video is just another tool in the journalist’s arsenal. The pen and the hand-held cam are mightier than the sword!
Thanks alot! I will start looking for a place to publish.
Ouch! Ouch!
I will try to. I have a PhD in Math and 3 year experience in unpaid internship. I hate math with passion, but it was not my decision. I guess I have to start a new life as a free person.
I hope so.
Business related specialization is the way to go; there are a huge number of competitors in general interest freelancing. For example a specialist freelancer in the petroleum/natural gas industry in Russia could probably find a good market for his articles in the West.