Following up on my
post about a new federation of sportswriters, former
Los Angeles Times reporter
Scott Martelle sent me an e-mail Wednesday suggesting I take a look at
The Journalism Shop, a network of
former Times staffers seeking work both in and out of journalism.
It's the "out of journalism" aspect that strikes me as the most interesting dimension of The Journalism Shop. The two dozen journalists featured on the site list years and years of journalism credentials. But they also list the kind of skills that extend beyond the realm of storytelling.
And that's posing a bit of a problem for the site.
"While it's been easy to get the word out... to other journalists,"
Brett Levy, Martelle's collaborator on the site, told me by e-mail, "it's been much more difficult to reach the groups that are most likely to hire, such as business execs, college deans and nonprofit leaders. The simple reason for that is we're networked with each other rather than the 'outside' world. It's important, as we go forward, to reach those who need our services the most."
If you have suggestions for Levy and his colleagues, please post them in the feedback area below.
Here's an edited Q & A that I conducted with Martelle Wednesday afternoon:
Mitchell: Where did the idea for the Journalism Shop come from? Martelle: It began with a Yahoo message group we set up to compare notes on dealing with unemployment, COBRA and that kind of stuff, then evolved into discussions of what we could do to move on from the disruption of losing our jobs. Another former colleague, Matt Randall, was already setting up his
Pro Photography Network (he acts as an assigning editor for freelancers), and we decided to strike out in a slightly different direction and put together an informal co-op of freelance writers, editors, designers and researchers.
What's the idea in brief? Martelle: We thought we'd take advantage of our resumes as former
Los Angeles Times staffers and see if we could, as a co-op, build a critical mass of freelancers into a one-stop shopping site for assigning editors and project managers. Each member ponied up $50 to get us designed, launched and hosted for a year -- and we have a small budget for ads as soon as we can figure out where best to target.
Are only former LA Times staffers eligible?Martelle: For now, yes, and primarily folks who lost their jobs in the Zell era.
Any plans to expand? Martelle: We've had a surprising number of freelancers from around the country ask that very thing. I've been telling them that for now we're keeping it to former
LA Times people, for marketing reasons. Though as a co-op we're likely to morph over time, so we could expand. But we're wary of diluting the key selling point -- our
LA Times experience.
Are there other examples of services like this created by other bought-out, laid-off or otherwise displaced journalists?Martelle: I don't know of any, but frankly I've had my head buried in this, some of my own freelance work, a book project and teaching, so I really haven't looked around.
Whom do you regard as potential clients of the Journalism Shop? Martelle: A wide range -- from newspaper and magazine editors to nonprofits and for-profit companies seeking help with reports (writing and designing) or any other project. One of our researcher members has already been approached by two PR firms looking for help on specific projects. Another writer has been talking with an author who e-mailed us looking for a consultant to vet her depictions of police and court scenes in a mystery she's writing. So essentially, we're hoping to hear from anyone who needs the skill sets that experienced journalists can provide.
Might the Journalism Shop provide some shared services, e.g., invoices, suggested rates, etc.?Martelle: That may happen in the future. If we did that we'd need to build in some sort of administrative fee for our members -- right now Brett and I are running it voluntarily. But we don't want to move in that direction until we see how this works out. That kind of shared services may, in the end, be unnecessary. Though we have e-mailed informally about what might be an appropriate fee for specific jobs. Key to remember, though, is that we're a co-op for marketing purposes; each member sorts out his or her fee with the potential client.
I notice that both of you are listed in the PR/Marketing section as well as Reporting for Scott and Design/Editing for Brett. How do these new roles (PR/Marketing) strike you after years as journalists?Martelle: It is awkward. Some of us have decided to be listed in just one place -- reporting. For me, I don't see a problem taking freelance PR assignments in areas outside what I usually write about, such as politics or books and publishing. Truth be told, I would much prefer not to, but in this environment work of any sort is hard to find, so to survive we need to be flexible.
Lessons learned so far -- both with the Journalism Shop and with life after newspapers?Martelle: Short question with a long answer. As succinctly as I can: Veteran journalists need to realize that the environment in which we built our careers will not return, and we have to focus as individuals on finding roles in this quickly shifting, unscripted play. We have to realize that no institution -- or deep-pockets philanthropist -- is going to come along and save us. We need to get entrepreneurial if we want to stay in journalism, and if we want to be part of figuring out whatever the new journalism might be. That takes a lot of risky, hard work. Yes, there is indeed life after newspapers, though it's harder to get your phone calls returned. And there is a disturbingly large number of us out there.
What did I fail to ask that might be of interest to Poynter's audiences?Martelle: How to reach us:
info@thejournalismshop.com.
To get occasional updates on The Journalism Shop and other NewsPay topics, you can sign up for my Twitter feed here. I'm hoping I'm not the only lucky one, but I...
