Could a newspaper be run with freelancers?

I figure the next step will be contract employees.
You don't pay them benefits, and you get a check based on your output for the week.
It would be a step above freelance but not by much.

 

The online situation is interesting on many fronts. But until the AJC and other outlets find a way to generate steady revenue from it, I believe this will remain status quo.

 

That's a good point, Cadet. I'll note, though, that I wasn't necessarily saying it was working with magazines, just that it's the way they generally operate. And I could see a desperate newspaper publisher seeing that model and thinking he could apply it to his paper.

 

I have no doubt someone would think that could work. Until the next round of budget cuts.

This has happened at my shop in certain sections. They laid off all the writers and invited a few back as freelancers. Then they slashed the freelance budget, so now certain sections are almost 100 percent wire copy. Next time they slash the budget, those "sections" are going to consist of a single page slapped on the front of the classifieds section.

 

this is basically what happens already at the recruiting sites.

 

I'd think the first places they would go full bore into trying this, at least in sports, would be at medium-sized (50-80K circ) dailies that don't have any major beats. Obviously, if you're in a college town or even if you're right down the road from one, you won't be quick to turn that beat over to a stringer because you won't be able to provide the sort of coverage your readership wants. And pro sports towns won't be quick to go this direction either.

But think about medium-sized towns with no significant beats to speak of. They've probably only got 2-3 FT writers as it is, and they either all cover preps or maybe they've got a GA guy. So they dump $60K-$90K in salary, not to mention benefits, and contract out all their preps/features coverage. It's all at night, so it won't interfere with most stringers' regular jobs.

I think it's a bad idea, but it wouldn't be the first bad idea to get implemented in the newspaper industry.

 

Fixed.

 

I think the mistake here is thinking "freelancers" automatically means the creepy people who string high school games and may or may not show up.

There are some freelancers who are virtual employees and cover beats on a regular basis.

 

Scoff at this all you want, but you know this is where the business is going. No benefits is what the papers want. As far as beat reporters ... it will be freelancers and community journalists. Management thinks sports writers are a joke anyway. The beancounters think we are all fans who have it easy. The quality will be horrific, but who cares? They save money by paying 8 bucks an hour/no benefits.

 

I see a trend toward more freelancers, but reliability and availability seem to be the biggest issues against an all-freelance situation.

Editors are often at the mercy of a freelancer's full-time job schedule, which makes afternoon and weekend assignments tough to fill sometimes. And without extra cash for long road trips, freelancers are less eager to accept an assignment.

 

True renaldo, but I envision them not covering road games at all. Or having the 8 dollar an hour reporters do the home games and go ahead and pay 100 or so for coverage of road games. They still save big time on flights, hotels, meals. I mean the facts as we know them with all the cuts show flat out the bean counters DO NOT care about quality.

 

disagree. The BLOGGERS!!!! and the message boarders already, generally speaking, have no regard for the coverage in the hometown paper(s). They all think (again, generally speaking) they can do a better job. So they'll be the last to know when the locals stop trying...unless, of course, one of the bloggers or message boarders moves into the "mainstream media."