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    — Mark Twain

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Posts Tagged ‘freelance’

The future is looking up for journalism students

Journalism jobs have been springing up throughout B.C. recently — and young journalists are being eyed to fill those positions.

It’s a sign of the times, an admission that tech-savvy and energetic 20-somethings can provide necessary skills to aging newsrooms less inclined to adopt extra work in their already busy days. Some fondly remember the days of spending days on big stories; students now have never known that luxury.

Today, it is all about speed, website hits and the number of published stories.

It has been encouraging to see so many job openings this summer, though competition for those spots is stiff. A young age is now an asset in the eyes of many hiring editors. Those editors are keen to consider young reporters’ tech advice and newsrooms that have limited knowledge of multimedia production are eager to learn.

There have been permanent openings at a number of newspapers. And though there are few …

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More I’m learning from freelancing

I’m still new to freelancing. Two stories have been published, one was submitted yesterday and I have another in progress. I also have over a dozen investigative story ideas that I’m planning to find markets for. There is one big difference between writing for a paper and writing for a school assignment: story outlines.

When the editor and I discuss stories, aside from the story I pitched which required an agreement on the angle, there are no details given. I’m told this is what is happening or already happened, get some comments. Or maybe he says get a lot of colour, describe the scene. Another time I was given an event press release and that was it. To journalists, this sounds like FREEDOM!

And it’s a lot of fun. I decide when to go, who to talk to and what to talk about. I arrange it in an inverted pyramid but I …

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A beginner’s guide to freelancing

I had no idea that Kwantlen had left me in the dark with freelance writing until I decided to try. A church nearby was hosting a Mixed Martial Arts fight, which raised several moral questions for me. I realized those questions could be a story if I could pitch it to the right market. I stumbled through a pitch – I’m still not sure I did it right – and sent it to the Vancouver Sun.

Step one: write a clear, brief description of the story with your angle outlined. Convince them that you know what you’re doing and estimate the time finished and a word count.
Step two: find out who reads the pitches at the market you’re interested in and email it there.
Step three: wait.

I had no idea how long to wait, but the event was in several days so I pitched it to The Province early the next …

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© 2012 Sarah Jackson