03.09.10
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Speaker Evening March 23: Money and Business Matters

The Sydney Freelance Journalists Group is holding a panel discussion evening on Tuesday March 23 to discuss Money and Business Matters.
Do want to know:

· How to manage your cash flow?
· What you can claim as deductions at tax time?
· About superannuation and income protection – do you have them?
· If you should be charging GST?
· The benefits of paying your PAYG annually instead of quarterly?
· What you should have on your personal tax checklist?

If you want to know the answers to these questions – or any other financial questions – join us for the panel discussion.

Alternatively, come along for a drink and share some nibbles and conversation with other freelance journalists.

Panel facilitator: Emily Chantiri

Emily is a freelance journalist and committee member of the Sydney Freelance Journalists Group. She is a regular contributor to a number of magazines, including NoteBook , ABC Life etc and Fairfax’s BRW Magazine. She is also the author of The Savvy Girl’s Money Book.

Panel speakers
Dianne Hill

Dianne is a Company Director and Management Consultant. Her background is in Chartered Accounting, Banking and Project Management. She has managed her own small business Sector Research Pty Limited for 20 years and has developed and presented financial training programs for non-finance people. Dianne is also one of the four authors of The Money Club, which became a bestseller with sales exceeding 25,000 copies, and of the book Financially Fit for Life. http://www.themoneyclub.com.au

Robert Peake

Robert Peake is a chartered accountant and partner with the firm, Herkess & Partners Chartered Accountants. Making it onto the MEAA’s recommended list of chartered accountants for journalists, Herkess & Partners have been providing taxation, accounting, audit and investment services for more than 60 years. http://www.herkess.com.au

Event details
Date:
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
Time:
6:30pm – 8:30pm
Location:
Forresters Hotel,
corner Riley and Foveaux Street, Surry Hills

$10 for MEAA members, $15 for non-members
Call the Alliance Membership Centre on 1300 65 65 13 or email
members@alliance.org.au to RSVP and / or pay for your ticket
(credit card payments only).
Payment at the door on the night is fine, but please RSVP.

03.03.10
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NSW Writers’ Centre Seminar – Saturday 20 March

Our friends at the NSW Writers’ Centre are hosting a seminar titled
GETTING IT RIGHT: THE NEWS STORY
with Dr Meenakshi Bharat
on  Saturday 20 March 2010 from 10am – 4pm

Full Price – $140, NSW Writer’s Centre Members $100, Concession Members $85

Dr Meenakshi Bharat is the biographer of Salman Rushdie and is currently touring Australia to promote her latest anthology, Fear Factor: Terror Incognito Stories (co-edited with Sharon Rundle) which features stories from Australian and Indian writers. In this special one-day seminar Meenakshi will train aspiring jouralists to zero in on the right ingredients for an effective ‘telling’.

She will, among other things, specifically look at:

• the vocabulary choices;
• the different registers;
• the shape and the form chosen for the various pieces.

Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Food: Tea and coffee making facilities will be provided. Course participants are advised to bring their own lunch.
Size: 20 max

To read more about the seminar and Dr Meenakshi Bharat, click here

02.10.10
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Meeting of freelancers who write for Pacific Publications

Pacific Magazines, a major local publisher in the Seven stable which publishes titles including New Idea, marie claire and Better Homes and Gardens, has issued a new contributor contract for freelancers requiring they sign away all future rights including online. The company is also seeking to strip legal protections from writers with an indemnity clause shifting liability from Pacific Magazines to freelancers should there be legal action arising from a freelance contribution.

The MEAA strongly advises all freelancers NOT to sign the contract- note the Alliance is currently in negotiations with Pacific Magazines management for a new agreement for permanent staff.

The Alliance is convening urgent meetings for freelance writers (members or non-members welcome) in Sydney and Melbourne to discuss the Pacific Magazines contract.

Just turn up – or for more info – contact Alliance organiser Claire O’Rourke at claire.orourke@alliance.org.au or 02 9333 0935.

Meetings:

Sydney: Thursday, February 11, 6pm, Alliance office cnr Chalmers and Redfern streets, Redfern. RSVP to claire.orourke@alliance.org.au

Melbourne: Wednesday, February 17, 6.30pm Melbourne Central Lion Hotel, Lvl 3, Melbourne Central Adjacent to the Hoyts cinema box office . RSVP to mike.dobbie@alliance.org.au

02.04.10
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What do Australian freelancers get paid?

Prominent Australian freelance journalist and academic Margaret Simons has posted a request on her regular Crikey blog for freelancers to email her with the current rates they are paid.

The 2010 MEAA freelance rates, available as a PDF download on the MEAA website here, suggest that the minimum rate for a freelance journalist should be 89c a word (with $890 paid for any article of 1,000 words or less).

There are certainly publications in Australia which pay more on a per-word basis; eg The Monthly, Griffith Review and Reader’s Digest all pay around $1 a word – and there are many other corporate and trade publications  which pay that or more.

However, metro daily newspapers generally pay around 65c per word – way less for travel – and plenty of Australian magazines still pay just 50c a word or even less.

We would love to see freelancers contact Margaret with their current pay rates – she’s promised anonymity.

We have regular discussions about pay rates in our Freeline google group – if you’re an Australian freelance writer, you’re welcome to join the discussion online.

12.28.09
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First step taken against Fairfax freelance contract

It is good that the MEAA has finally taken the first step to change the standard Fairfax freelance contract.

The standard Fairfax freelance contract, which has been in place for three years, is viewed by many freelancers as particularly unfair. For example, if Fairfax publish three pieces of work by a freelancer within a six month period then that freelancer is forbidden to have work published by any other major newspaper or magazine and Fairfax are not required to provide any further work. In other words, for the sake of work worth $3000 at the very most a freelancer is prevented from earning a living. Other clauses relating to licenses allowing Fairfax to use freelancers’ work for no extra compensation are also of concern.

While the Fairfax contract is particularly harsh, it is nonetheless symptomatic of increasingly poor working conditions for freelancers industry wide.

By approaching the ACCC in late December 2009, the union will learn whether it can represent freelancers like it represents journalists who are employees. If it can, then there is no reason why the union can’t begin a bargaining process where Fairfax management will have to come to the negotiating table.

The Sydney Freelance Journalists Group will report whether the union can represent us effectively in this important issue when the ACCC’s decision is made sometime next year.

09.19.09
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Sydney Freelance Journalists Event: open mic night

Sydney-based freelance writers are invited to join members of Freeline and the Sydney Freelance Journalists Group at Forresters Hotel, 336 Riley Street, Surry Hills on September 29 at 6pm to hear about common freelance woes – and some tips from veteran freelancers about surviving long-term.

What’s Your Beef? Freelancing Q & A

Have you ever wondered what on earth editors want in a story pitch, how many re-writes are OK, how long it takes to build a freelance practice or whether anyone ever makes money from this caper? Are you sick of trying to work it out on your own?

Roger Fox, gardening editor, Better Homes and Gardens Magazine, and lifestyle / home renovations journo Alex Brooks (formerly Alex May) will be on hand to give you answers (or at least some sympathy) for dilemmas we all share, whether we write, photograph, announce, film or blog.

This is a purely question and answer evening, so you will get your turn on the mic.

Cost:
$10 for Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) members, $15 for non-members
Call the MEAA on 1300 65 65 13 or email members@alliance.org.au to RSVP and / or pay for your ticket (credit card payments only).

Payment at the door on the night is fine, but please RSVP.

07.01.09
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Good Editor Award

On June 29, the result of a poll held by members of Freeline who voted for the Freelancer’s Choice for 2009 Good Editor Award was announced.

The 2009 Good Editor Award winner is Roger Fox, gardening editor, Better Homes and Gardens Magazine.

Testimonials from freelancers about Roger include:

“I’ve never worked for a more professional, decent person. His values are not praised often enough.”

The runners up were:
Rebecca Spicer – Empower Magazine
Susan Prior – editor of www.onlineopinion.com.au
and  Fiona McGill – section editor at the Sydney Morning Herald

An online poll is planned for 2010, allowing freelancers to nominate and vote for their favorite editors; and a second award for corporate editors will be offered (for those who edit publications and programs that are in-house or exist to distribute information about a company or organisation).

The 2009 Sydney Freelance Journalists Group Committee are Rachael Osman-Chin (Chair) and committee members Fran Molloy, Jan Forrester, Christine Fogg, Emily Chantiri and Liz Swanton.

06.25.09
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Sydney Freelance Journalists Group event: The Future of Freelance Journalism

Sydney-based freelance writers are invited to join members of Freeline and the Sydney Freelance Journalists Group at Forresters Hotel, 336 Riley Street, Surry Hills on June 29 at 6pm as our speakers deliver their very own Nostradamus imitation.

Speaker Evening – The future of Australian freelance journalism

With massive numbers of recently redundant full time journalists now on the market, what is the future of freelance journalism?

As newspapers struggle to keep the presses going and free to air TV fights to hold onto its audience, what does the future hold for freelancers who write the stories, take the pictures, speak to the public and shape the news behind the scenes?

Is our media going to be consumed by cheap, fluffy celebrity ‘news’ or are we in the mist of a monumental shift where good journalism will survive even if the current big media businesses don’t?

The Sydney Freelance Journalists Group is holding a speaker evening 29 June to discuss where it is all heading. Come and hear seasoned media observers share their views as well as the findings of recent MEAA research.

We will also announce the winner of the Freeline 2009 Good Editor Award.

Speakers are:

Steve Ahern OAM – broadcaster, author, trainer and media commentator and the founding editor of http://www.radioinfo.com.au; he was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia this year for services to radio broadcasting.

Claire O’Rourke – former freelance journalist, now a Lead Organiser for the MEAA & has been part of the Future of Journalism Project, http://www.thefutureofjournalism.org.au

Rachel Hills – Rachel is a freelance writer, editor, blogger and public speaker who writes on gender, politics, media and technology, currently writing her first book and found online at rachelhills.tumblr.com

Cost:
$10 for Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) members, $15 for non-members
Call the MEAA on 1300 65 65 13 or email members@alliance.org.au to RSVP and / or pay for your ticket (credit card payments only).

Payment at the door on the night is fine, but please RSVP.

01.01.09
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Freeline goes live

Welcome to the current web home of Freeline, a support and discussion group for Australian freelance journalists.

Founded by a small group of freelancers in 2005,  this group began life as an  email list in Yahoo groups, then moved to Google groups, where it continues to host moderated online discussions.

Group members are journalists, writers, and other freelancers (including some editors) with different specialities and interests.

There are now over 200 members with many attending the regular events organised by the Sydney Freelance Journalists Group.

We welcome any Australian working freelance journalist to join the online discussion. There is no joining fee and you do not have to be a member of the MEAA (journalist’s union) – though many of us are.

Members who no longer work as a freelance journalist (eg to take a position as a staff journalist, staff editor or publisher) are asked to leave the group.

To join the discussion,  send a message to the group moderators at freelinesydney+owner@googlegroups.com from your preferred email address and include a brief description about yourself confirming you’re a working Australian freelance journalist.  As with any google group, you’ll  also need to have an active Google ID.