NCTJ report on freelance journalism published

A NEW NCTJ report into freelance journalism reveals that the self-employed want more training but face financial challenges.

The 52-page report, Exploring Freelance Journalism, provides independent, comprehensive labour market information about the freelance journalism sector and includes the results of a recent survey of more than 600 freelance journalists.

Journalism now has one of the highest rates of self-employment of all occupations, says the NCTJ. From 2000 to 2015, the number of freelance journalists increased from 15,000 to 25,000, a rise of 67 per cent, with the proportion of journalists who categorise themselves as being freelance increasing from 25 to 35 per cent, compared with 15 per cent of all UK workers.

The research found that less than one-fifth (17 per cent) have been ‘pushed’ into self-employment, with 44 per cent saying they have been attracted into freelancing and 39 per cent believing it was a mixture of both.

The NCTJ’s research consultant, Mark Spilsbury, designed the research methodology and authored the report. It is intended to help the charity and its stakeholders understand more about the nature of freelance journalists, self-employment, skills and learning. 

Freelance journalists responding to the NCTJ’s survey reported:

•  working an average of 34 hours per week, but the spread is large
• 13 per cent work two days a week or less
• 23 per cent work longer than 40 hours a week

While the average pay for all journalists from national data sources is £30,884, data from the freelance journalist survey suggests that for freelance journalists it is in the region of £19,500 – although a higher proportion of them work part-time. Freelance journalists identified the single biggest challenge as not knowing how much income they will have from month to month.

Freelance journalists are concerned about financial issues – irregular income, lack of security and inability to save – but appear to be happier with their work-life balance and more content in their lives overall due to flexibility, with 82 per cent not seeking to leave freelancing.

“This wide-ranging research report provides detailed and valuable information about the growing freelance journalism market,” said NCTJ chief executive Joanne Butcher.

“Now that journalism has one of the highest rates of self-employment in the UK economy, the NCTJ must focus more of its work on providing accessible training and qualifications to meet the needs of modern freelance journalists."

The full report is published on the NCTJ website here.