Freelancing in credit crunch OxfordWhat’s your story? The unfolding story of the recession tends to be told in terms of the number of jobs lost – and in the case of journalists the toll has been very heavy. But the untold story is what is happening to the livelihoods of freelances, who make up a sizeable proportion of the NUJ’s membership both nationally and locally.
Anecdotal evidence paints a worrying picture. Forced out of work, former staffers in the press, broadcasting and books and journals are being forced to join the ranks of “intentional” freelances. And they are competing for a decreasing workload, sometimes at decreasing rates of pay, as many companies are cutting back on their freelance budgets.
The London Freelance Branch is reporting a steady stream of ‘refugees’ joining them from other sectors of the union. It is also reporting cuts in rates paid by national dailies, including the Independent, the Telegraph and the Times, and is now busy trying to organise a collective response.
Here in Oxford it seems that we may need to do likewise. One freelance reports being offered £16/hour for a proof reading job by an OUP editor who two years ago was paying £20/hour. “Have you taken a pay cut?” he asked, “Then why should I?” Others report that entire projects, heavily reliant on freelances, have been scrapped.
At Macmillan, rates have been frozen at between £20 and £25/hour (depending on the job). The Oxford Mail and Times imposed a moratorium on the use of freelance photographers last Autumn, but have had to relent a little, as they have too few staff photographers to cope. Members supplying features to the papers and their supplements report that rates remain at the standard £85.00 per piece – whether that be for 500 words or 2,500 words, with or without accompanying pictures.
Casual shifts at BBC Oxford are paid between £80 and £120. One casual is reporting that the BBC has seriously curtailed its use of freelances, leaving him struggling for work. Reports from the newsroom, however, seem to indicate that they, at least, have not cut back on use of freelances.
What’s your story?
Are you a freelance by choice? Have you been forced into freelancing? How is the current economic climate affecting the availability of work and the rates you are paid? Come to the May branch meeting to make a collective assessment of the local picture and look at ways to gather and spread information and help local freelances work together to defend our livelihoods.
AW 2009-05-01
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