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Online Journalism News

Freelancer of the fortnight: Chris Gelken, China

Posted: 06/08/08 By: Clare Fisher
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Click here to look at Chris Gelken’s full freelance profile on Journalism.co.uk.

Why did you choose to become a freelancer?
I cannot claim to be a freelancer in the truest sense of the word since at the time of the interview I still had my full-time job with PressTV in Tehran as news anchor and program host of Middle East Today.

While the post was rewarding in many ways, I missed getting out on the road with my camera bag and iPod recorder. Being tied to a desk is all well and good when the weather is bleak and cold, but turning your back on a beautiful day to spend hours under artificial lights can get wearing.

Now I am back in Beijing to enjoy the Olympics as a spectator, while working on my Chinese language skills.

If you trained, where? If not, how did you become a freelancer?
My first love was photography, and I did a few full and part-time courses at local community centres and private schools. I was fortunate to have the opportunity of working with some really talented 'smudgers' [an old name for a photographer] who were very patient in explaining things that today's digital generation would assume was medieval alchemy.

So essentially I learned on the job. I began writing my own copy after a few disastrous assignments with reporters who'd failed to do their research. During the late 80s and early to mid 90s I generally considered myself to be freelance, though often with a 'main' employer who would take the hassle out of work permits and accreditations.

Do you specialise in any particular field and what areas do you write about?
I have been described as very hard to pigeonhole: I have been a television documentary maker, columnist, radio and television news anchor, photographer, videographer, and newspaper associate editor. I even spent a couple of years as a contributing writer to a monthly agricultural magazine, not bad for a city lad who couldn't grow cabbage for, well, cabbage.

These days I tend to focus on regional and international affairs and breaking news, though I am keen to do more features and documentaries on rights issues. I received a Certificate of Special Merit from Amnesty International for a documentary on labour rights - or rather the lack of - in Hong Kong in 2003.

Which publications have you been published in?
Published/broadcast... Back in the 90s I did a series of features on women's rights/women in the news for the Chicago Tribune - I think the editor thought Chris was short for Christine.

Panos UK on HIV/Aids in Thailand and domestic violence documentary for TVB Hong Kong.

I have done general news and features from the Auckland Newspaper Group to the Nation in Bangkok, the South London Newspaper Group (at least that is what it was called in those days) The Korea Herald in Seoul, China Central Television, photos have appeared in the now defunct Today in the UK, and a Tibet photo feature back in the early 90s in the Mail On Sunday.

Which articles, in which publication, are you the most proud of?
The ones that usually get me sued or banned - seriously, an investigative article on child prostitution in Thailand in the early 90s for a local newspaper there was reproduced globally and is still available on the internet.

The documentary on labour rights and another on the rapid spread of drugs in schools led to changes in government policy regarding education and the way they collated information.

What are the best and worst aspects of freelancing?
Without doubt the best - when finances allow of course - is the ability to choose the projects you want to work on and who you want to work with.

The worst, as any freelancer will testify, is the uncertainty of jobs and pay cheques. That is one of the reasons I like to straddle the fence between freelance and employee. If I know the mortgage is going to be paid, then I can relax and focus. My best advice to any freelancer, is don't give up your day job until you have established yourself and have enough clients to pay the bills.

Do you have any interesting anecdotes in relation to your experience as a freelancer?
The last time I allowed myself to be interviewed, the journalist decided to spice up my quotes - the finished article was hilarious but utterly libellous. Some of my friends wouldn't speak to me for weeks.

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