Friday, May 9, 2008

Opportunities in Freelance Journalism

Adam Boulton

The scope for journalism jobs in the world is more and it can as well be done from home as a freelancer. The main areas of job opportunity are in magazines and newspapers and these two are considered to be a main source for journalism even after the internet has happened to prevail a lot in the economy.

Mostly all the local and national newspapers use freelance journalists, on an improvised basis or on standard basis. In most of the meetings or any major events we can find more number of journalists all around. By taking into account the newspaper selling capacity, we will be able to arrive at a decision that still it is a promising industry and this is a suitable place for the journalist to promote their skills and to earn good money. So in this case freelance journalism has started to become popular, which in turn helps the people who have the passion for this job. Only fixation necessary for journalism are hard work and determination.

In the world of internet, most of commercial websites cover almost all the areas. The scope for journalism is more in this field as a good website always look for the content. List the specialty and skills in the websites which will help to make a path in the individuals' career. Editor or a webmaster is the deciding authority in this field and it is necessary to show the sample works and make them impress.

Some of the ways through which the journalism can be explored, are as follows:
First and fore most is to begin freelancing from the school, college or university journals.
Gain knowledge and work experience by working in a local newspaper or television channel or radio channels. This may depend on the choice of the individual whether to go in for print journalism or broadcasting.

Form a network with other professional in the same field, to discuss things and be in touch with today's economy. They can also join online websites or any discussion forums, or freelance groups.

Check for any opening through job portals or newspapers on a regular basis and subscribe to any of job magazines.

Register the profile and sample writings in job portals and ensure to update often. Be specific to enter the interested or specialized area of work.

Be a member of journalists associations. Most of the associations hold a website which will be helpful for the members and they charge a minimum amount of fees for it.

Work as a freelancer to any of the news agencies to gain experience and before doing so, check whether they pay for it.

Often try to attend workshops or seminars, which will help to meet many people and help to get to know things and will get exposure to those kinds of meetings.

The resume of a journalist must be in such a way to explain his skills, specialized field, ambition and suitable for this kind of job etc. which make an impact on the employer or the client. In this field it is necessary to be careful about the copyright, as many of the publications assign the journalists rights only to them, which will not allow the journalist to work with any other publications.

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