Last summer, I wrote a story for, let's say, a mid-tier Hearst magazine about "survival influencers." Basically, there is a small sect of YouTubers who've made a career by decamping into a provocative corner of the global wilderness — the Canadian prairies, the Australian badlands, the Alaskan archipelago and so on — where they boldly challenge the turbulent elements for content. Usually they're only equipped with a video camera and a basic trundle of subsistence gear, which means I have watched these young men go to incredible corporeal extremes to grind out views. (One dude methodically demonstrated how one can boil a slimy, but calorie-rich, "fish head soup"
Phew, love it all. I did the full-time journo job for years (I was lucky) then quit when a horrific nonprofit newsroom boss drove me into the arms of corporate comms writing because I needed some other writing job, any job (nonprofits...never again).
Best decision I ever made. I have a job where I write boring stuff and edit boring stuff and I WFH and have work-life balance and steady paychecks and don't think about work when I'm not working. It gave me the emotional space and actual time to write on the side. But as you said, freelancing was/is a hellscape. Still do it sometimes, but decided to just take to Substack and do shit on my own terms. There, too, I had to accept I would occasionally be writing for exactly nobody. Persisting despite that reality leads me to believe I must still love the craft, so I'm glad.
Whew, that was harrowing! As I got to the end, I almost wondered if this was a long prelude to an announcement that you were “going paid”! In the early 1990s we founded and ran a book-packaging company, until Wikipedia knocked that little fragment of the publishing industry into the ditch. This thing we call the market is cruel, especially to anything that resembles the arts.
Man, I feel this. I started freelancing in 2010 and spent around a decade writing about theater, sports and doing big history features. I transitioned into editing when I noticed that the $500 per story I'd been getting as a rookie had gone from being a lousy rate to being as good as I could expect. Finally got out of journalism altogether when I decided that if I was gonna be making no money, I might as well be writing fiction. I'd always supplemented journalism with copywriting -- now I use it to supplement fiction. (Plus a free substack.) I'm much happier now but man, the state of the industry is a damn shame.
As a former journalist, I feel you. I decamped from journalism to the wilds of corporateland, first as a content marketer and now a tech writer. I salute ex-colleagues who are still keeping the flame of journalism alive. A friend of mine, a very experienced health journo in my country told me about her experience pitching stories only to be ghosted either in checks or replies. All that hard work and the payment was so abysmal my heart ached.
I worry about journalism in the future. I do want it to survive, but investigative journalism needs money to keep on operating. I'm not sure how we're going to do it :/
Phew, love it all. I did the full-time journo job for years (I was lucky) then quit when a horrific nonprofit newsroom boss drove me into the arms of corporate comms writing because I needed some other writing job, any job (nonprofits...never again).
Best decision I ever made. I have a job where I write boring stuff and edit boring stuff and I WFH and have work-life balance and steady paychecks and don't think about work when I'm not working. It gave me the emotional space and actual time to write on the side. But as you said, freelancing was/is a hellscape. Still do it sometimes, but decided to just take to Substack and do shit on my own terms. There, too, I had to accept I would occasionally be writing for exactly nobody. Persisting despite that reality leads me to believe I must still love the craft, so I'm glad.
Extremely good piece
Lol yep
Whew, that was harrowing! As I got to the end, I almost wondered if this was a long prelude to an announcement that you were “going paid”! In the early 1990s we founded and ran a book-packaging company, until Wikipedia knocked that little fragment of the publishing industry into the ditch. This thing we call the market is cruel, especially to anything that resembles the arts.
Man, I feel this. I started freelancing in 2010 and spent around a decade writing about theater, sports and doing big history features. I transitioned into editing when I noticed that the $500 per story I'd been getting as a rookie had gone from being a lousy rate to being as good as I could expect. Finally got out of journalism altogether when I decided that if I was gonna be making no money, I might as well be writing fiction. I'd always supplemented journalism with copywriting -- now I use it to supplement fiction. (Plus a free substack.) I'm much happier now but man, the state of the industry is a damn shame.
As a former journalist, I feel you. I decamped from journalism to the wilds of corporateland, first as a content marketer and now a tech writer. I salute ex-colleagues who are still keeping the flame of journalism alive. A friend of mine, a very experienced health journo in my country told me about her experience pitching stories only to be ghosted either in checks or replies. All that hard work and the payment was so abysmal my heart ached.
I worry about journalism in the future. I do want it to survive, but investigative journalism needs money to keep on operating. I'm not sure how we're going to do it :/
Heartbreakingly true.
I adored this piece. Thoughtful contemplations with a surfeit of lines that hit like a sledgehammer. Subscribed.
Immensely relatable.
I eagerly await the consulting installment