Who are we all and who do we work for?

[jane furnival]

Hi.  I'm Jane Furnival and I've freelanced for a huge number of nationals from the Telegraph to the Guardian, and am now semi-retired as I'm coping with cancer.

I'm writing, for love, a short column for the British Association of Journalists' quarterly magazine, which aims to help other freelancers.

I would be grateful to hear any experiences, good or bad, from freelancers.

They are used anonymously.

Also examples of what you consider a good or a bad rate for work. This could be specific, e.g. Daily Mirror, general feature, 600 words, £450, paid in 3 months. Or general, e.g. Health magazine, 3 interviews, 1200 words, £350, paid on publication.

Thank you. Best wishes, Jane

[Widgetplus]

I am Widgetplus, well really Fiona - a good Scots Gaelic name which means Fair, well I was fair haired when I was small, many more years than I would like to remember - no don't get the wrong idea, I am not ninety in the shade although last year I did wonder if I would reach my latter fifties birthday as I was bitten by a very nasty insect called a Blandford fly - ever heard of it, well come spring and summer, you had better be cued up on it as it loves biting ankles, especially women although men are not immune if you wear shorts and no socks under your sandals so human friends, beware. It is the size of your fingernail on the smallest digit on your hand. It is now rife in East Anglia and probably other parts of Britain as well with climate change etc.  I am now looking for part time work freelance I can do from home if possible, especially writing as I now have lymphodema which is incurable, when it first started, it was cellulitis.  Also our transport system is a joke with buses every two hours and it would mean walking past the very area via the causeway where these creatures spawn for there are reedbeds in slow moving water.  Hardly normal life enhancing but now I have to work around this infernal problem so now I am trying to find items to write about, ie. antiques etc and the appropriate magazines to publish them, an interest I have been gradually developing due to the fact that in the afternoons, I had to keep my foot elevated.

May I say that, heaven forbid that anyone is bitten by this wretched insect whose origins came from the place in Dorset, near their Stour, get to your doc sharpish, don't assume that antiseptic cream will put a stop to the bacteria as this fiend is loaded with the stuff.  The onset symptoms initially are increasing nausea and feeling off colour, within twenty four hours, your ankle will swell to twice the normal size, you will feel boiling hot one minutes, confulsive chilly shivering the next. Warning, this creature has resulted in deaths.


 

[mimimimi]

Hello everyone! My name's Naomi. I'm currently a student of Russian, but looking to going on to study journalism at postgrad level upon graduation. I have aspirations of becoming some sort of foreign correspondent or reporter, with a particular interest in Eastern Europe. Rather lofty aspirations, especially considering my current lack of experience, but we shall see!

[journogirl]

Hi! My name is Justina and I am also a journalism student. I am graduating this year. One of my roles as a journalism student is a features show producer. I have recently produced a highly entertaining show which is a studio based discussion with a features editor from our local newspaper (Daily Echo in Southampton). It's worth watching!

You can watch it on our youtube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoCi7Dsl91o

Please let me know what you think!

Justina.

[artsin]

I am Trevor Locke Editor of Artsin Leicestershire Magazine, a magazine about the arts and entertainment in Leicester and Leicestershire.  Founded 2005. We publish online with no paper equivalent.  We have over 400 'pages'.

[rednoise]

I'm Eric and I'm from Taylor, Texas in the U.S. I freelance for a community paper around here called The Round Rock Leader.

This forum was the first to pop up when I searched for journalism forums. I'm always looking for job leads as I would like to write full time.

I look forward to participating in the discussions on this board!

[guthers19]

Hi, my name's Robert Guthrie and I am 14 years old. I am an aspiring journalist and write for my local newspaper the Dumfries and Galloway Standard, and also an American online non-profit for under 18 journalists called Youth Journalism International. I have also gained some top class experience with the BBC recently, as my school were selected as 1 out of four schools across the country for an outside broadcast about BBC News School Report - the BBC's youth journalism initiative. I'd love to become a journalist one day.

Yours,

Robert Guthrie
RobertGuthrie@hotmail.co.uk
http://thejournocloud.wordpress.com