international market here


Another problem is chasing bad payers, when a legal claim is not worth the value of the invoice. Although Minney has found working for overseas clients a good source of income, he has twice had to enlist the help of the NUJ, once to get paid by a magazine in Johannesburg. He advises freelances to look for reliable, well-established


titles that are recommended by other journalists, and to be aware of any political links or agenda. Minney did a news roundup for a newspaper in Africa before 1994, then discovered it was being funded by the apartheid National Intelligence Service. He stopped working for them. Another freelance ran into problems when she supplied


copy to Abu Dhabi newspaper The National, and was asked to submit a copy of her passport in order to get paid. “I refused on principle and was never paid,” she says. Despite a detailed commissioning brief, she was not told


about the requirement until after she had filed and her work was published. She lost around £500. “The feature was a lot of work and it was hard to lose that


money. I chose to walk away because I object to any organisation, particularly any government-related one, holding journalists’ passport data,” she says. One advantage of working for an overseas title is being able


to cover stories you might not normally be able to do. One journalist writing for the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong found it gave him access to high-profile interviewees that he would struggle to secure for a UK publication. The only pay-related issue he has had is avoiding being taxed twice – something Laura Latham also had a problem with in the US. “The accounts department of a US title I wrote for just couldn’t understand that I wasn’t liable for US tax,” she says. “It took numerous calls, emails and interventions from the editor over several months.” Latham has written for business titles in the US and Ireland and glossies in Norway and the Middle East. She has also contributed regularly to the International New York Times. She found work via recommendations and editors who had seen her work, as well as pitching.


“ ”


You’ve got to push yourself out of your comfort zone because you can make thousands


“I was writing for a good stable of UK titles, but felt I needed to broaden out,” she says. “Writing for a single market can be limiting as print publishing has declined and opportunities to place stories have reduced, along with fees. I also feel it gives editors confidence in your work if they see some heavyweight international names.” Aside from tax issues, there are international bank transfer


charges. Helen Roberts runs press agency Cover Asia Press and works between London and Delhi. One of the first things she learnt was to add a transfer fee onto invoices. Roberts believes the best opportunities are in Germany,


Australia, the US and Dubai, but the market has changed since she started in 2011. “I think all journalists are feeling this. There’s less money in the


pot, whether it’s UK or overseas titles, so fewer opportunities.” Like other journalists, Roberts also has concerns about Brexit, which has already affected her in Delhi. “The moment the referendum results were announced, the Indian rupee to the pound dropped so there was a huge difference,” she says. “I’m anxious about the future, for sure.” Back in the real-life sector, Jones is busy searching for her next big coverline, preferably with a link to several corners of the globe. She believes there are huge opportunities out there for the right story and urges freelances to grab them. “You’ve got to push yourself out of your comfort zone because you can make thousands,” she says.


theJournalist | 15


ILLUSTRATION: NED JOLLIFFE


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