Inspired by @cnqmdi and other fellow members of @studyhallxyz, I'm sharing my freelance reporting year in review, with notes about what I earned. Here's to more money transparency in journalism!
I did some quick math, and my freelance reported stories in 2018 earned me an average of 30 cents/word, median 27 cents/word. I wasn't able to hit $1/word on any of my stories.
(Average length of pieces was 1950 words)
(Average length of pieces was 1950 words)
Will post more or less in chronological order, but first, my highest paying stories.
I'm proud of this short piece I wrote for In These Times. $500 for 622 words - highest paying piece, per word. (travel to Alabama came from an outside grant though)
inthesetimes.com/article/21430/…
I'm proud of this short piece I wrote for In These Times. $500 for 622 words - highest paying piece, per word. (travel to Alabama came from an outside grant though)
inthesetimes.com/article/21430/…
This story, for CJR, paid $1200 for 2783 words. My rate was originally lower but my editor offered to give me an extra $400 after I did more reporting than we originally planned. (this was amazing and does not happen often!)
cjr.org/analysis/relig…
cjr.org/analysis/relig…
Ok, moving along - this 1,886 word piece for The Nation earned me $350
thenation.com/article/how-to…
thenation.com/article/how-to…
Profile for Religion & Politics - $700 ($600 for the writing plus $100 for the photo)
religionandpolitics.org/2018/02/13/for…
religionandpolitics.org/2018/02/13/for…
I wrote a deep dive on the culture of sexual harassment and assault in the US military for Task & Purpose, $1000 for 3,885 words
taskandpurpose.com/military-sexua…
taskandpurpose.com/military-sexua…
A feature story for Playboy about the mental health challenges of female veterans, $650
playboy.com/read/why-are-w…
playboy.com/read/why-are-w…
A reported analysis about male supremacy, for The New Republic, $400
newrepublic.com/article/147744…
newrepublic.com/article/147744…
Also for The New Republic, an analysis of the Supreme Court's anti-worker decision in Epic Systems v. Lewis, $400
newrepublic.com/article/148492…
newrepublic.com/article/148492…
A feature story for The Progressive about restrictive employment contracts (was also published in print), $1000
progressive.org/magazine/ties-…
progressive.org/magazine/ties-…
For Sojourners, a look at how the Masterpiece Cake Shop decision may impact litigation over adoption rights for LGBTQ families, $500
sojo.net/articles/beyon…
sojo.net/articles/beyon…
For The Lily, a reported piece on the impact of Catholic ethics guidelines on reproductive care, $400
thelily.com/crisis-pregnan…
thelily.com/crisis-pregnan…
One slightly off-brand story, for The Outline, about women who use Ashley Madison, $650
theoutline.com/post/5371/wome…
theoutline.com/post/5371/wome…
Another reported piece about the Equal Rights Amendment, for The Daily Beast, $400
thedailybeast.com/wanna-save-roe…
thedailybeast.com/wanna-save-roe…
This is one of the stories I had the most fun reporting this year. It required some travel (costs were reimbursed) and I got a little bit of money for my photos. For The Nation, $450
thenation.com/article/nuns-t…
thenation.com/article/nuns-t…
A few notes: This isn't all of the reporting work I do. I'm also a special correspondent for Bloomberg Law, which keeps me pretty busy. I also have a few other translation and editing gigs. (And I had 3 stories killed for a total of $787.50)
Some of my stories wouldn’t have been possible without travel grants, including my piece on cooperatives for In These Times, and a feature story I’m currently writing (stay tuned!)
One goal I set for 2018 was to always ask for more money, and I did.
It didn’t always work out; many editors weren’t able to budge on their offers.
But some were! And one amazing editor at CJR upped my fee $400 after I ended up doing more reporting than originally planned.
It didn’t always work out; many editors weren’t able to budge on their offers.
But some were! And one amazing editor at CJR upped my fee $400 after I ended up doing more reporting than originally planned.
I'm really proud of the work that I've done this year, but a median of 27 cents/word for reported stories is very low. If I didn't have other income and a supportive partner w/ a steady job and health insurance, this wouldn't be feasible.
Not sure what the answer is here. There are a ton of structural problems and this industry really is broken, particularly when it comes to digital-only work. Individual fixes aren't enough, but if you can, pay for your journalism!
I spend a lot of time thinking about the famed/coveted $1/word. What if all of my reporting had been paid at that rate? I would have earned *3X more* what I earned in freelancing this year.
medium.com/s/story/how-mu…
medium.com/s/story/how-mu…
