Do you need a freelance journalist for your editorial projects?

Some editors work independently of the media or agencies for which they work. Editors paid by the article must organize themselves to never miss work. The freelance journalist is required to write articles, but also to take pictures or create audio and video content. The world of the press is varied: print media, web, radio, TV and news agencies are all different organizations. The freelance journalist is likely to participate on all these media. He has the opportunity to specialize in one or a few fields: economics, politics, literature, etc.

The freelance journalist does not really have working hours: he decides how much time to allocate to his activity. We must also know that by taste of freedom, some people make the choice of freelance work. However, a large part of freelancers choose this format because of a lack of stable employment. The freelance journalist's missions. The missions of a freelance journalist are to search, collect, and then process the information:

• Most of a freelancer's working time is to look for information. It must ensure a watch of the news on a given geographic or thematic area. For this, he must have a network of contacts.
• The report asks the freelancer to select important information. It is at this time that video (for TV and web) and audio (for the radio world in priority) are produced.
• The treatment consists of arranging the information so that it can be published. Mastery of software such as Quark Xpress (for the print media) is essential for many newsrooms. Regarding this last task, it does not always fall to the freelancer: it is often the agencies that take care of it, even for articles that they themselves have not written.
• In general, the freelancer must articulate the search for information with the media with which he collaborates. Before each publication, he proposes to the editors-in-chief various subjects that he has been able to find. He then goes on reporting only for topics that have aroused their interest.

Choose a freelance journalist. For the freelancer, one of the difficulties is knowing and integrating the different editorial lines of the media with which he works. Indeed, for its articles to be received, they must correspond to what the journal editorial research.

To be accepted by an editor, it is necessary to prove this capacity of adaptation. Creating a portfolio of articles already made can be an interesting tool. That said, to begin to "solicit" editors, the best way is to send directly his first ideas of topic: if they are relevant, they will not hesitate long before contacting you. Be careful however: it is important not to say too much about your subjects. If theft of ideas is rare in journalism, it does exist.

It is also necessary to be autonomous and organized. When the freelancer has no subject to write, his only occupation is to find new ones. It is then necessary to proceed with method to browse its sector or its field of predilection.