Freelance writing ethics? 3 questions!?
I know this takes some explaining, but please bear with me because I only have three simple questions at the end. I work for a newsroom which publishes a number of magazines and newspapers. I'm pitching a story for a publication I don't normally work within that group: a monthly news magazine with mostly economic and political news items. Right now I'm doing a story about the power of advertising and the impact good branding has on a company's business in terms of sales, market share, ROI and public awareness. The magazine rarely talks about advertising and hardly considers it an industry, but in this light I think it could be of interest to the readers, most of whom are entrepreneurs, people working in business, and decision makers in politics. While this business magazine is part of the media group I work for, I normally work for one of their lifestyle magazines only. I pitched the advertising article as a freelance piece, because upon hiring me my boss (a senior advisor in the media group) made it very clear that I will be paid separately for freelance pieces I write for other publications within the group. Since I'm needing the extra money and would love the challenge of learning a new subject I don't normally work in, I pitched this advertising article. However, the editor was rather iffy about compensating the extra article on a freelance basis, because he says the point of having a media group is to share resources among different publications. That means that I work for the media group and the group should have to be able to use my work in any publication that they want without paying me extra, especially that some of my colleagues work for multiple publications on a single salary. And even if the pay weren't an issue, whether the story is run (and whether I get paid) will depend on whether my final product gets approved. 1. If the senior advisor of the group told me that I get paid extra for articles written for other publications within the group, can the editor tell me that I can't be paid freelance for them on the basis that some staff writers work for multiple publications on a single salary? (Bear in mind that the staff members my editor referred to get paid at least 5-10 times more than I do) 2.In case the pitch doesn't make it to the run, should I consider plan B? ( i.e. pitching this article to a different publication?) My contract says that I can't work for other employers while being hired here, but I can request other media to publish my work under a different name, especially that it would be in a different genre from the pieces I normally write under my real name. 3. How long should I keep my first job in the media before moving on to work for other media that better suits my idealism? If I want to write human interest stories (business, social phenomena, history and justice) with a twist of literary value, which publications should I consider working for, and how do I make people there aware of my existence and potential for their media? I live in Southeast Asia (Jakarta, Indonesia) if that matters. I write both in English and Indonesian, and am a fluent speaker of Dutch although I've never really written in that language. Thank you!
Media & Journalism - 2 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
You'd best not write in the same field as you're writing in for your employer. That just doesn't sound right. You'd be too much divided and then your employer would feel rightly slighted. If you wrote in an entirely unrelated field, that'd be better.
2 :
1. Get a senior adviser to back you before you approach the other editor. 2. Pitch the story to publications outside Jakarta/Indonesia in English and Dutch. 3. Make a check list of what you want in your next job. Once you've gained experience in those areas through your current position, it's time to leave.