Freelancing for Dollars

April 24, 2015 1:11 PM

I want to know what the market is for freelance reporters to sell their ability to do stories to radio stations across the country (or maybe in general). I don't know what a reporter might charge for freelancing the reporting, producing, writing and voicing of a story or what would compel a station to hire them And does there exist a collective or consortium of freelancers who have managed to turn that into a business model, like a narrowly focused employment agency or maybe even a talent agency. Does anybody know where I can find data on both?
posted by CollectiveMind to Media & Arts (1 answer total)

Association of Independents in Radio (AIR) is the primary consortium / marketplace of indie public radio producers in the USA. Becoming a member is among the most important things you could do if you have any serious inclination to pursue this.

AIR has done more work than probably anyone to advocate standardizing the things you describe. Check out their Guides and Resources for information on pitching to individual shows; rate schedules and contracts; and a (quite old by now) Code Of Fair Practices For Working With Freelance Radio Producers. They also regularly post new Articles on a variety of topics which are germane to pubradio folks.

They also run the phenomenal AIRDaily [members-only login] - basically the Ask Metafilter of the public radio world - where folks chime in on best practices and current information of every conceivable stripe. If you can find no other reason to join (which is unlikely), this is it.
posted by mykescipark at 3:08 PM on April 24, 2015 [3 favorites]