Selling a news story!

anotherdollar

i've been thinking about earning extra money to help pay off my mortgage quicker and I have come up with the idea of selling story ideas to my local newspaper.

I have done some research that would be of interest to my local newspaper, so I've written to my local newspaper to see if they are interested.

If they are, how much money should I expect or demand? Has anyone else sold a news story before? Are there any legal issues I should consider?

financegirl

are you a journalist?

do you even know how to write well enough for a newspaper?

what do you class as a good local news story?

are you aware of the budgets of local newspapers? - their STAFF get paid on average 14k a year and cover about 5 stories a day...very unlikely they'll pay you unless you are a freelance journo with NCJ qualifications and law trained, and have an amazing exclusive story that they can't get their own staff to cover.

it's a competitive business - the only papers that pay are nationals - and they have superb relationships with local journos - who often work for local papers. have you ever seen a story in your local paper, only for it to appear in the sun a couple of days later, that's cos the journalist has sold it on to the sun for a price - front page exclusive a couple of hundred quid, a couple of lines on page 23...about 30 quid...depends on the news of the day, where it's printed in the paper, the value of the story..lots of factors to consider.

you need to have a postgraduate diploma in journalism that covers law, ethics and local government. All your work will be alos sub edited by the editor (probably totally re-written) to avoid libel issues and froma style point of view.

also..there's not a chance they will pay you for ideas - they'll take them off you (if they're good) and then send their staff to turn the idea into a story and you won't get a penny.

if you are a trained freelance journalist with loads of experience, and write a cracking story, they may pay you but as i said before would have to be amazing and if it was that good you should be pitching to the nationals..and to do that well it's all about contacts, contacts, contacts.


Good luck!!

anotherdollar

I'm a Statistician with a PhD in Maths.

I wasn't planning to write an article, but provide them with some research i've done. Nothing fancy, but it would be of interest at the moment. I'm sure they could take it as a basis to write a very interesting article.

Given what you've said, then it looks like a non-starter. Nothing ventured nothing gained.

Thanks,

anotherdollar

I'm a Statistician with a PhD in Maths.

I wasn't planning to write an article, but provide them with some research i've done. Nothing fancy, but it would be of interest at the moment. I'm sure they could take it as a basis to write a very interesting article.

Given what you've said, then it looks like a non-starter. Nothing ventured nothing gained.

Thanks,

financegirl

Can you give me an idea about what the article would be about or is it top secret?:p

Also..btw never give up..if you believe in something there's always a way.

I'm just saying that a local newspaper will not pay you for ideas I'm afraid.

Princess_Jane

I work for a local newspaper and AFAIK we would never pay out for a story unless it was an absolute top notch exclusive.

If you aren't a trained journalism the story would have to be re-written any way, and like the previous poster says, even actual journos earn peanuts.

The biggest money spinners are the 'I Found Love in Burger King' or 'My Twin is a Bi-sexual Bigamist' tales beloved of the weekly mag market.

If you have an interesting tale to tell then contact one of these magazines directly and you might make £50 to £1,000 depending on how juicy the story is.

Then contact your local paper and see if they want to cover it, LOL!

Hillfly

financegirl wrote: »

Can you give me an idea about what the article would be about or is it top secret?:p

Sounds like a case of 'just take them off you' to me!:p

financegirl

hillfly...what are you a suspicous journo???:p

i don't know what this research is???? Is it gold mine stuff or is it yet another boring piece on the woe of first time buyers who surprise surprise can't get on to the property ladder...been done to death already..paper won't touch it.

it's like a mortgage adviser saying i need your salary and house price details before I can let you know if you can get a mortgage..similar stuff...nothing dodgy..only trying to help!!:p

unsure

As an ex journo have to agree with Financegirl. Ideas alone are worth precisley nothing and local paper have little money to spend on freelance contributions(or anything else!). If you are to have any chance of earning anything (I wouldn't hold out too much hope of making enough to reduce your mortgage noticably) you will actually have to write articles that will pass muster as publishable in terms of content, quality and legal considerations (eg not defamatory, plagiarised or in breach of reporting restrictions imposed by a court or by statute).

To be perfectly honest, the level of technical legal knowledge required is not that great and is probably well-enough covered in "Teach Yourself Journalism" or some such. But good, engaging, concise writing style and originality are not so simply acquired. Also bear it mind you will be competing with lots of hard working, experienced freelance journalists with good editorial contacts, scrabbling to make a living. That's what you are up against.

That said, it is possible to make some money from freelance journalism if you can write well, have something new and interesting to offer and are prepared to put in sufficient work (eg research, including intvus to get quotes, rewriting etc.). Several of the nationals now make it easy for freelancers to offer work and give details of how to do so on their websites. With all the additional supplements they offer (esp at weekends) there may be a niche you can identify and fill. The rates won't be great (see NUJ.org.uk for some idea of freelance guide rates-- but they vary a lot) especially as an hourly rate if if a lot of research is involved. The NUJ also offers some good training courses for members (at a discount) and non-members, if you are serious about entering journalism, it would be a good idea to consider joining.
You'll need to start by getting your best story idea, turning it into the best story you can make of it and then testing the waters by offering it. If you are not put off by all of the above, Good Luck!

GeorgeUK

Glad i didn't try a story. I contacted the Daily Record to see if they wanted to buy a picture. Car ended up on its side in a basement stairwell due to some very dodgy driving and very short police chase (15 yards)

Sent them a thumbnail selection and they offerred me £150 for 1 of them.
I'll stick with happysnaps - this journo lark seems like alot of hard work to me.

good luck

unsure

Yup, unusual/unique/exclusive pictures are easier to sell (esp if paper buys out the rights and can sell them on to others) but I think you would be unlikley to find enough cars stuck sideways down enough stairwells to make a regular income from it!