Tuesday, April 22, 2008
How Can Freelancers Avoid Conflicts?
Q. I contribute to/freelance for regional titles in New England. Mostly environmental subjects. I work full-time in textbook publishing as a production manager. I am worried about conflicts of interest, working in one field and writing about another. Most
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of my articles are about maritime matters, fisheries, defense and war; I am not responsible for content in my day job, though there is some overlap in interests.
I love journalism, but it seems impossible to do it full time, at least at the wage I need with a kid, wife and mortgage in an expensive Boston suburb. So, a day job in publishing pays the bills. But are there any conflicts of interest there? And if I get a job with an environmental non-profit research institute on the public relations/marketing/communications side, etc., how about then? Journalism looks to me to always be one of two careers, and I have no problem maintaining two. But I worry about invalidating my ability to cover subjects.
Should I tell magazine/news editors when taking assignments? Is my journalism/am I as a journalist less valid because I do it on the side? I know I work hard on my journalism, but sometimes being a part-timer makes me doubt the enterprise.
Thanks!
Josh in MassachusettsA. You're wise to think about these things and to be up-front with your editors.
Conflicts arise when a job or relationship could appear to influence your reporting on the subject you're writing about. I don't see any conflicts in your present arrangement.
If, however, you were doing pubic relations for an environmental group, articles about fisheries would be a conflict for you.
Your best course is to continue to keep the content areas of your two jobs separate.
Being a freelancer does not make you less valid. Validity comes from the kind of work you do and the care you take to be accurate, independent and fair. But by that measure, a freelancer's journalism can be as valid as anyone's.
Coming Wednesday: She cannot seem to get any traction as she tries to get into a job with a university medical center news service.
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