Writing about the new media markets is somewhat like trying to sketch the earth as you're rocketing into space from a launch pad-if you could look out the window as you're strapped in place. What you see keeps changing. There are new multimedia sites taking off every week in cyberspace, but there are also many pioneers that have already crash-landed, failing to find advertisers or enough audience to keep them in business.
There are thousands of on-line jobs available-many staff positions and a number of freelance writing opportunities for original Internet magazines, on-line versions of print magazines and newspapers, Web pages, the new crossbreed of computer operation and network news, and others. Some jobs pay well; others don't. Some jobs last; others collapse. In an article in the November/December issue of The Columbia Journalism Review, Christina Ianzito pointed out that the new media offer job opportunities to young journalists that circumvent the newspaper internships or first jobs on the cop beat and doing obits. But with job descriptions that include building links, designing, surfing the wires, updating stories, writing hyperlinks and doing some reporting, she asks, "is it journalism?" But the world of cyberspace writing and producing and designing is not just for 22-year-olds. In another article in the same issue, Steve Weinberg, former executive director of Investigative Reporters & Editors, wonders how a couple of accomplished investigative journalists could have forsaken print journalism for on-line jobs. Then on February 28, The Dallas Morning News, jolted the print and cyberspace industries with its decision to place a breaking investigative story on its on-line newspaper, done apparently partly for legal reasons to hurry the story into public view.
Just what is the future for the new media? How much of it will be journalism? What jobs will be available for writers who cover health, medicine, the physical sciences, earth sciences, ecology, the environment, and technology? Nobody can say with any certainty what will be happening next month, let alone next year.
The field is changing so rapidly. What follows, put together by Carol Cruzan Morton and myself, is a snapshot of what we found available at the time we wrote this. Both the article and the directory are upbeat because we're telling you about multimedia organizations that have job opportunities for freelance science writers. Some of the organizations listed in my directory pay a rate equal to the going rate for print magazines; others pay far less. One Internet magazine that pays a low rate is running in the red and can't pay more, the editor explained. So, good luck with making job connections. But, be careful. Try to get at least $1 a word for what you write, regardless of the medium. And, when you take an assignment with one of the new media, ask bluntly how long the organization expects to stay in business. The answer's gotta be at least long enough to send you your check.
This is my last column in ScienceWriters. I've been meeting with you here over the last four years, and I wanted to leave you with something useful. Thanks to all of you who have contributed to our discussions of freelance writing issues over the years and have e-mailed me, called, written, and talked with me at the NASW meetings. It's been my privilege to work with you. I'm grateful to Tammy Powledge for agreeing to continue this column, and she will take it over next month. As for me, I'm plunging into writing a book-yes, a print book, not a cyberspace one; and I find I can really use more time for family, pets, and tutoring kids who need help turning their lives from failure into success.
To every one of you who dares to live on the edge as a freelance writer, I wish you great assignments, great contracts, and fast pay. And, if you feel in a slump sometime, just remember you don't have a boss you're not getting along with, you don't have a long commute into work, and you're in charge of your own life. Take the afternoon off and plant some tulips. And don't forget to put nuts and water out for your squirrels.