Rhino Hide 

It's What You Need When Working for Newspapers

by Liam Rooney

         Newspaper feature sections are one of the most lucrative areas for beginning writers.  That is if by "lucrative" you're talking about something other than money.  Real world experience, a good clip file and the credibility that goes with it are the payoffs.  Immediate financial gain, however, rarely figures into newspaper freelancing.  Likewise, don't expect to be developing a cozy relationship with any newspapers editors, they have their own flesh-and-blood friends there at the office.  You, the eager writer at the other end of the phone or email connection, are totally expendable.  So don't even consider freelancing for newspapers unless you have, or are willing to develop, the emotional equivalent of rhinoceros hide.

         Why even bother?  Let's face it, the majority of us who write do so to see our name in print.  If it was just about money, we'd strive to be financial consultants or real estate tycoons.  Yeah, yeah I hear that there are people who write because they are creative geniuses and simply need the outlet. But personally, I want me, the very personal me, the very egotistical me, to be recognized for my creative expression that is manifested in a piece of writing.  I want to see my name in print, in bold font.  So why would I email or call some harassed newspaper editor to pitch my idea?

         The odds are even money that that individual, working frantically under deadline, is going to be cold and abrupt.  My introductory phone call is likely to be as welcome as a telemarketer's intrusion.

         Twenty years ago I pitched a small idea to the state and region desk of Denver's Rocky Mountain News.  The editor was civil and she gave me the go ahead.  It was a small piece on Roots author Alex Haley's visit to Fort Collins, which is 60 miles north of Denver.  I knew the News didn't have a full-time reporter in the region, so there was a good chance they would go for the idea.  They did and a week later I was $40 richer.  This was 1981 and $40 was about one third of my rent.  The article took me four hours to research and write, which included attending Haley's lively lecture and a brief exchange (I couldn't call it an interview) afterwards.  I would have gone even if I hadn't gotten the assignment; and ten dollars an hour was really good money back then.

         Shortly after that positive experience,  I was writing one or two pieces a week for the News.  I was on a roll. The News even started calling me with short assignments. Simply trotting down to the courthouse to get a quick quote from a serial killer and a summation of his arraignment was worth $75! Onetime I got paid $50 for simply reading the indictment of another bad guy over the phone to the news editor.

          I loved these adventures, and friends began to think of me as "the stringer" for the News.  It was a lot more prestigious than my real occupation as a house painter.  So what happened?  Why didn't I make it to the big time?  Well neither the News nor its competitor, The Denver Post, were inclined to hire a full-time reporter in my town.  If I wanted to move to Denver I likely could have worked my way in as a cub reporter and eventually move up to features writer.  But I like living 60 miles from a major metropolitan area; any closer and I get claustrophobic. Gradually, I began to chafe at the abruptness of the editors.  And I started to realize that $40 here and $75 there would never ever amount to a living; not when you consider self employment taxes, gas and other expenses, let alone the rising cost of living.  So I began to look elsewhere, which was when the payoff came.

          Armed with a healthy clip file, I was able to land a full-time job writing for a weekly paper.  Again, the pay wasn't great, but the clips and recognition were.  That job led to a good job as a public relations writer.  Becoming a family man, I had to get even more serious about money and eventually turned to technical writing.  Of course, as happens to many of us approaching (or well into) middle age, we eventually realize that somehow we strayed far off course from our initial dreams.  Forty hours a week in a cubicle working on mind numbingly abstract projects was not what I had in mind when I first envisioned a writing career.

           So last year I started to think about publishing again.  My best clips, the ones with my name on them, were now 15 to 20 years old.  I had been researching a book on African American rodeo cowboys during my free time.  A lot of that research was easy to package into freelance articles for newspapers.  So I was back in the game.

           This time, the ability to contact editors by email, and to be able to direct them to a writing sample via a hyperlink made things much easier.  Eventual phone contact was preferable for resolving some issues, but the electronic age has expedited a lot of things, such as constant phone tag with editors and using snail mail.  This trend is a happy development and I quickly sold articles to publications like the Chicago Tribune Magazine and the Houston Chronicle from my home office.  However, despite very positive experiences with those two publications, the downside is that despite today's advances some things haven't changed at all.  In fact, they seem to have gotten worse.

         The pay for freelancers is miserable.  In fact it's less than miserable.  The article that I would have received $40 for 20 years ago, is now worth about $50 to $75.  Not at all in line with cost of living increases.  And the demeanor of feature and news editors, partly due to youth and inexperience but also due to the general faster pace of life, appears to be even colder and more abrupt than ever before.  Even more depressing is the quality of newspaper editing.  Anyone who has read newspapers over the past several decades can see that the style and accuracy, and simple grammar skills, have deteriorated significantly.

         So once again, why bother?  Well the same benefits -- experience, clips, recognition and credibility -- are still there.  As I write this, I'm still waiting for a $75 payment for an article to an unnamed large Texas paper.  The article took me over seven hours to research and about $20 worth of phone calls.  The editor, despite giving me the initial go ahead, was insufferable and inaccessible once I started working on the piece.  This specific article was about a former stuntman who doubled for John Wayne and other classic western stars. The stuntman, who lived in this particular newspaper's region was dying of cancer.  I wanted to publish the article before he passed on.  That intention was accepted by the editor from the onset, but she decided to sit on the story after I submitted it.  After a cold yet civil email exchange she acquiesced and ran the story, surprisingly in its entirety and without a single change.

          Granted the above project was not about the money alone, and I am satisfied that the story was run.  But what is more disturbing is that this kind of scenario is occurring all over the country. Thousands of freelancers like myself are still treated like wannabes and intruders by full time newspaper editors.  I've been around long enough to know that such treatment is not likely to change in my lifetime, if ever.  Yet I would still encourage beginning freelancers, or seasoned writers wanting to build clips for a specific project, to seek out feature editors with their ideas.

          I have a few suggestions to make this approach easier on the freelancer:

         1) Develop the hide of a rhinoceros.  Don't take anything an editor says or does personally, either positively or negatively.  If they hint that the may be looking for a full time reporter in your region, be receptive, but don't count on it.  Likewise, if they don't return phone calls or respond to emails, don't get bent out of shape.  You can stay professional, and know that at least your communication skills are intact.

          2) Don't plan to make a living writing for newspapers as a freelancer.  With almost every daily paper in America, and many weeklies, belonging to a large chain, the average age of reporters has gotten younger and the turnover higher.  Newspapers don't intend to pay anyone, full timers or freelancers, a subsistence wage. Once the wedding bells toll and the rug rats start arriving, most full time reporters start migrating toward cubicles to make real money doing the less glamorous work of other industries.  Invariably the reporters with seniority who stay at the papers become editors, often cranky ones, who must deal with myriad deadlines and details, including freelancers.  Just be grateful that you're not one of their children.

          3) When communicating with editors, try to pitch your ideas in succinct email messages. Eventually you will have phone contact with the editor(s).  You will need to be even more succinct at that point.  Be warm and polite, of course, but don't even attempt to make small talk.  The editor will probably be as friendly as possible under his or her circumstances.

         4) Know when to stand up for yourself and your work.  If you're a rookie, accept that the editor probably knows best how to handle your story.  Of course, the current lower standards in editing and proofreading skills can sometimes result in a less than desirable published piece -- and that can be a hard lump to swallow.  Either way when you submit an article to a newspaper you basically have acquiesced the final draft to the editor.  If they mangle your copy consistently, simply find another venue for publishing your work.

          5) Submit the best writing you can produce within a reasonable time frame.  There are seasoned reporters who can't write decent copy.  What they do well is take good notes and get the information off to their editor in a cryptic email or dictate it over the phone.  That's not what we're discussing here.  Freelancing for newspapers, usually for the features and/or arts & entertainment sections, is an opportunity for showcasing your writing with loftier ultimate goals in mind, e.g. magazine and book writing.  You want to put your best foot forward, yet with articles paying paltry sums of $50 to $200, you can't spend a week on one piece.  Learn to write like a newspaper writer -- quickly, concisely and accurately.

          6) Let the chips fall where they may.  There's a reason why the latter cliché exists.  It's very practical.  Do your best, try to consider your editor's position and needs, meet all agreed upon deadlines, and then go on to the next project.  Cold, abrupt, and sometimes rude, editors are just part of the newspaper freelancer's experience.  Plan to eventually move beyond newspaper freelancing to more ambitious and respectable markets.  With a higher vision in place you're not as likely to react to an editor's arrogance.  With that attitude you can grow that rhino hide you need to get through this phase of your writing life.

  --LR

© 2000, Liam Rooney