Thread by @fgeerdink

anybody interested in a #rant on the #earnings of #freelance #journalism? if so, let me first brew some coffee and you can fasten your seat belt.

only @brunchik? see, you folks don't even give a shit.

okay i'm ranting anyway, even though you don't care. #earnings #freelance #journalism

i started #journalism in 1990, at journalism academy, so thats almost 30 years ago. after eight years as a staff journalist, i started as a freelancer in 2000. i wrote mostly about (womens') health and medicine. with in the back of my mind a dream: foreign correspondence.

since the boss (<-- me) found foreign correspondence interesting too, i started doing occassional trips: twice to palestine/israel, and once to east-timor (when it existed one year as an independent country, google that). then i thought: for a freelancer, #turkey may be smart.

so i started going to #turkey in 2004 and started learning the language. in 2006, i was confident enough that i could make a living as a #freelance #journalist in turkey, so i got new business cards and off i went!

things were going great, on average i had a yearly turnover of EUR 45K. everybody was interested in #turkey stories: womens' magazines (where i had many contacts due to my previous work on health) to news magazines, travel and human rights magazines, papers, radio stations, etc.

also i gave workshops in the netherlands, and i was more often asked for speeches/lectures, and the move to #amed #diyarbakir in 2012 turned out well on every possible level. turnover maybe a bit lower but that was fine, no problem. i thrived.

then #turkey kicked me out, sept 2015. i lost my life, which means: i also lost my job. many people don't realize that so again: i lost my job. i continued writing although i was no longer the only foreign journalist based in #amed so it was more difficult (and less satisfying).

i thought of this #journalistic project: spend a year with #pkk and write a book about it. off i went! research june 2016-june 2017, publication book may 2018. turnover in those two years (mind you: not *per* year): EUR 15K. (subsidy, publisher's advance, occasional publication.)

you read that well: EUR 15K in two years. yes, of course the year in the #pkk was cheap. (no, i didn't pay pkk for the food and shelter they gave me. 1. they would never accept, 2. i didn't feel like being prosecuted for financing a #terrorist organisation.)

so, what's next? well, i know #kurdistan, and yes i saw there were relevant stories to make in the #netherlands as well but i decided to stay on the f* bus. stay on the f* bus? read more here, it's crucial for freelancers. jamesclear.com/stay-on-the-bus

so, i moved to #slemani in oct 18. i have two projects to work on, and i write the routine stories. turnover of last nine months of 2018 wasn't too bad, EUR 23K, but part of it was from a final editing job that i now lost due to communication clusterfuck with boss of the company.

i can live from what i earn, i am f* lucky to be able to live from #journalism, but you know? i have come to a standstill in my personal and professional development. for three years now, i've tried to get a #journalism fellowship in the us. in vain: 300 applications, 12 places.

i want to study, i want to develop myself and i have always been able to do that in my work but those days seem to be over. if i apparently can't get a #journalism #fellowship, i will have to study part time myself. but the little savings i had are gone by now. so: #deadlock.

then i met somebody here in #suli, she was impressed by my experience as a #journalist and said: 'i'm sure you can teach at our uni, it pays well, do you want that?' (not the same uni as where i gave a lecture yesterday.) of course i'm interested. so i send my resume and wait.

short answer: 'sorry, we see you don't have a master's degree so we can't hire you.' hand me the f* master's degree yaa! i know that one woman teaches #journalism there who does have a master's but *no experience in the #field*. this infuriates me like crazy.

so what do i do? i just agreed to give an evening workshop in the netherlands for EUR 250. with my f* experience! it's an absolute #chutzpah. and of course, flexible as i am, i am googling for master degrees i can get online in a year. possible, but i can't afford it. #deadlock

'but it's an investment frederike.' sure, if i had the money, i'd invest. shall i check what's in my bank account? like, all together? EUR 2823. that's it. few invoices standing out, yes, but none of EUR 10K or something. welcome to my world. #deadlock #freelance #journalism

so yes, i'm.. slightly demoralized. i can usually fight the matching #mood but on the day the airline where i just booked a ticket goes bankrupt and i have to buy a new ticket, and i see cavusoglu's #stupid niece gets a master's degree for being a #niece, i want to throw #things.

i was asked if i have patreon. well, now i do. patreon.com/fgeerdink but these problems i have are institutional. those who provide proper content in #journalism are the lowest earning in media. and contributors to my crowdfundings are always people on low budgets themselves.