What our survey said… Society of Freelance Journalists polls its members

How have the last 12 months been for you? This was the loaded question the Society of Freelance Journalists (SFJ) recently asked its 1,600-strong membership. After marking our first birthday in March by becoming a Community Interest Company, we wanted to learn more about our growing Slack network, their professional needs and how we could best serve them.

We asked freelancers around the world how the pandemic had shaped their work, what their career aims were for 2021 and (blush) if SFJ had done anything to help them along the way. A huge thank you to the 125 who so far have taken the time to respond to our 10-minute questionnaire. Many spoke expansively and honestly about a hugely challenging moment in their lives.

Our survey takeaways

· The first lockdown “obliterated” the work of many of our respondents, while others suddenly found themselves thrust into freelancing after being made redundant. Twelve months on, most have pivoted and found new work but still feel uncertain about their careers and future prospects.

· As ‘CEOs of one’ SFJ respondents are yearning for guidance and training to help develop their careers and personal branding. However, few feel financially secure enough to afford the cost of a dedicated, in-depth course.

· Nearly all wanted to make connections with commissioning editors and fellow freelancers but “didn’t want to look like a douche” doing so.

· SFJ members would like the opportunity to do more “one-on-ones” with like-minded journalists to bounce pitches, copy and ideas off each other.

· A third of SFJ respondents check in daily to the SFJ Slack channel.

· Some 70 per cent of SFJ respondents said they worked in text, 14 per cent in audio while 16 per cent described themselves as working in visual media.

The Society of Freelance Journalists was formed in March last year when a tweet by Laura Oliver to “chew the fat” about shared approaches to work attracted the attention of Abigail Edge, Caroline Harrap and myself.

After a Zoom meeting, we resolved to set up a Slack channel to offer advice, moral support, learning and job opportunities for journalists whose main source of income is self-employment.

We did not imagine that SFJ would morph into a global community that would partner with the European Journalism Centre to launch its Freelance Journalism Assembly; or be asked by the UK House of Lords to contribute to its investigation into the Future of Journalism. We’ve been featured in multiple articles on freelance-journalist resources too.

All four of us are working freelancers. Providing a platform for colleagues to share opportunities and network has meant so much to us. But we also felt that it was time to listen and respond to the needs of our community.

In their own words

The survey responses took us back to the career cliff edge we all found ourselves on back in March 2020.

“I lost so much freelance journalism work,” one wrote of that time last year. “My usual editors sounded so shattered and saddened by it all.”

Many lost 80 or 90 per cent of their income, with the overriding feeling being that there had been “no one there to help”.

“The pandemic obliterated my clients and I had no work for three months,” one survey respondent said. The unintended consequences of Covid-19 meant many weren’t able to commit to journalism. “Childcare has taken precedence and all my work has taken a back seat,” an interviewee said. “I have not written anything in over a year.”

Chart: Andrew Garthwaite

We were incredibly proud that SFJ had played its part in “scary times”.

“The pandemic saw my usual income streams and income dwindle to nothing,” said one. “SFJ has been a source of support, human connection (Zoom calls), conversation, peer advice, and pitching opportunities.

“The weekly check-in and sign-out are a good way of bookending the week.”

Another added: “I lost a significant amount of work at the beginning. SFJ has really inspired me to start pitching again, and the #opportunities channel has been full of great ideas for stories that encourage me to develop ideas that I may have otherwise sacked off.”

One further said: “My work dried up in March 2020. SFJ has been good for keeping an eye on who is commissioning. I usually file those away and then pitch when it’s more quiet. I’ve had a couple of commissions that way.”

Looking to the future, many felt they were on a firmer footing in 2021. Asked what they wanted to achieve this year, one summed up a collective sentiment by stating: “More bylines, more $.”

“I want to work more efficiently,” another declared, “[and] spend less time pitching, more time writing, continue to place my pieces in large-circulation publications, but work more often with editors who value and are respectful toward career journalists, and earn more in the process.”

Others said they wanted staff jobs, to “break into the industry,” and to variously “pivot to write things I believe in”. One freelancer’s stated aim for the year was to simply “become solvent.”

Budget cuts have left freelancers with “lower pay and fewer opportunities”. Another encapsulated the new abnormal freelancers find themselves in post-pandemic. “Publications with robust circulation and equally robust pay rates continue to shrink in number and quality.”

One touching reflection came in from a Singapore-based member. “Since resuming freelancing SFJ has been super useful in flagging remote opportunities that I’d otherwise have no idea about. It’s prompted me to apply for a few [jobs]. I also massively appreciate the community spirit, it’s great to see other journalists working as I do and collaborating together.”

These responses stand alongside the vibrant conversations and threads occurring in our channels every day around subjects such as pitching, wellbeing, diversity, representation and more.

We know our members want a diverse range of opportunities shared that reflect their communities, nationalities and specialities.

To that end, we want to ensure we are communicating with and updating them in ways that make sense for their schedules and locations. We’re aware that the founders are all currently based in Europe — and we are looking for ways to make the resources and opportunities channels truly international in line with our multi-country membership.

Newsroom leaders have also approached the society asking for the community’s perspective on fair pay and working conditions for freelancers, many of whom are subject to ‘low, slow and no pay’.

“We need to listen more to freelancers’ needs. It’s the right thing for the industry to do,” said one leader of an international news outlet in the UK.

As for this summer, we have a Q&A with a local journalism network ready to announce soon and we working hard to find a way to produce a funded, freelance journalist career development programme. We are not going anywhere. Watch this space!