Freelancer's, cross posting, and earning an honest paycheck

[Eugene Neubronner]

Something struck me today when I was scanning through the "Help wanted" ads here and elsewhere.

While many companies disallow their workers from doing outside work that may cause a conflict of interest, more often than not depending on the contract signed a freelancer has no such issue - So long as, say, they re-work the article designed for another audience (IE another angle)

But with increasing attention being placed on blog sites such as Kotaku, Joystiq, Destructoid, et al, how do you think this issue can be handled?

Clearly, it's in the best interest of a freelancer that he post as much solid info as he can (or even rumorang as long as it's set properly in the title) to as many places as he can. But with cross-posting happening so frequently these days (E.g. Joystiq quotes kotaku, destructoid quotes joystiq, kotaku quotes destructoid....) how do you think it should be handled?

CAN a person reliably remain a freelancer in such an environment where the likely answer is that he needs to find ONE blog to continually publish that information and get paid for it?

[Ben Kuchera]

This is something I've been wrestling with as we try to expand the number of writers for Opposable Thumbs. We'd like people who have experience in the industry so we don't have to train someone from scratch, but it's hard to find someone who isn't already writing for one or more other sites.

It's a fine line to walk, and it takes time to find a good fit. I'm full time with the site, and the other gaming writer for Opposable Thumbs doesn't work for anyone else. It's tough; the last thing you want from a writer is an internal struggle about who to give their best stories to. If they are freelancing at two or more sites and they get a hot tip, where do they break it? Can you share story ideas or leads your chasing without worry about it showing up other places? Even with the most ethical of people, these are the thoughts that nag at you if you're an editor.

I'm very wary of hiring someone who will be writing for other sites at the same time, and I've backed away from some very talented writers who I'd like to worth with because of it. I'm much more interested in hiring people who we can turn into full-time employees with a stake in the site than someone who views us as just another paycheck. This approach certainly takes longer, but I think it's worth it in the long term.

[McKinley Noble]

It's true - most people can swipe information from anywhere they want and re-work it.

But while anyone can get their information from one blog, any good freelancer should have dozens and DOZENS of readily available sources.

The key is, you always have to recognize where the information comes from. One of the first rules anyone should follow is "determine the story's source." There's nothing more embarrassing than linking or quoting an article that proves to be filled with errors. And don't think that people won't notice if a writer just recycles links from the same five places. Always site your sources, but make sure to take the extra steps to be varied.

If you're persistent, you'll find ways to gain the info you need with relying on the same crutch.

E-mail that editor, find the press release site, and vary your linked sources.

[Pat 'iTZKooPA' Mulhern]

I almost never deal with rumors which eliminates a lot of the guessing game that can go on. I personally have never enjoyed all the rumors and rampant speculation so I try not to cover it myself, although I do understand why a site would want to cover them.

As for cross posting whenever I apply for a spot I am sure to let them know who else I am working for if anyone so they can decide for themselves whats best. I have only ever been freelance, but as an editor have you guys ever tried to "buy" exclusive rights to a writer you really wanted? Ya know, offer he can't refuse or something.

[Michael Torres]

I certainly agree, and for the most part with news blogs the way they are becoming it's more about spinning the same content in a new way; then finding hot new items. Press releases for the most part seem to be useless, at least in my opinion seem more like filler material. It's a tough finding a freelancer that's not just going to post the same news story at several places he/she writes at. Then comes into play who will get the bigger story first.

[Kyle Orland]

So this is really two different issues as I see it. One is freelancing for a bunch of different sites (and possibly repurposing articles for one to another). The other is giving proper credit when writing news broken by another source.

For the first issue, I think it's OK to repurpose work only if both editors know you are doing so. Otherwise you run the risk of one editor finding out that (a) you already wrote this article for another site or (b) you reused the article for another site after the fact. They might not care, but if you lay it out beforehand you can be sure. I also think the angle would have to be pretty darned different to justify getting paid twice for the same exact work (but if you can get away with it, go nuts).

I've covered the second issue in a media coverage column (http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/features/straight-to-the-source/7...) but the short answer is to just make sure, when blogging, that you've done the legwork to track down the original source for any original information. Usually this just means following a few deep links or doing a few quick google searches. As long as you give proper credit, I think you're in the clear.

FWIW, I won't usually link to my own outside work from Joystiq. For instance, if there's a Media Coverage column I think is of interest to JS readers, I put it up for grabs for someone else on the team to cover. If no one wants to, oh well, but I feel ethically icky using JS to link to my own stuff.

[Pat 'iTZKooPA' Mulhern]

Wow, good looks AND above shameless self promotion!

[Eugene Neubronner]

What I meant by the second issue you mentioned is along the same lines as the first one really. How many different angles can a freelancer possibly reangle his story on, say, Sony announcing Skype for the PSP?

Since a freelancer makes his pay on posting more and earning on the per post, it behooves him to post to as many sites as he can - So let's say he manages to (somehow) land a gig at "the big 3" blogs and posts to them all. Is that ethical? Maybe not. But people who don't visit one but another would want to know that news too. How does one grapple with that fact?

As much as its easy for one to say I'll let another guy on the team post it at another site, that would, techincally, mean I'm earning less cash from it to feed myself. How does one reconcile the idea?

[Jenni Lada]

I actually contribute to two sites. I contribute on a volunteer basis for Ctrl+Alt+Del's video game section and I'm an assistant editor for Gamertell.com. Both my head editors know that I do so, and I got permission to do so.

Basically the best thing to do is only cover a story for one source. If I review a game or write about a game for one site, I won't for the other.

[Jason Dobson]

It can also work out if your work on two different sites do not, for lack of a better phrase, cross the streams. For instance, I do daily news at Joystiq and do feature work on Gamasutra. Both are mutually exclusive, and allow me to keep both feet rooted in two sites that I care very much about.

[Anthony DuLac]

I just had this situation come up with a review for PC Gamer - my editor had a review for me and I informed him that I'd already submitted the same game for review to Gamesradar - fortunately, both editors were okay with it as long as each review was unique and had its own slant. As others are saying in here, also, it's Journalism 101 to check your story's source. I think the proliferation of all these gaming blogs, each struggling to find its voice and establish its niche in gaming media hierarchy, has diluted, to some extent, a lot of these important rules. Don't get me wrong, I'm not "anti-blog" or something, but if you're going to attempt to establish yourself as a bona fide gaming site or publication, you need to ensure that your staff has a good grasp of the fundamentals of journalism - at the very least.