To be a successful freelance journalist, you need to have a consistent flow of ideas that sell, and ideas that will sell more newspapers and magazines to the public.

Some freelancers have always been freelance and will have some sort of professional connection to an in-house journalist or editor. Short-lived freelancers can be identified by journalists who will buy their stories but will recognise they don’t have an academic background or intellect that will be valued by the press in the long term.

News agencies and freelancers were able to sell exclusive stories from the courts or by paying a regional journalist a tip-off fee for the contact. In-house journalists have an easier time being fed stories landing on their editors’ desks, and journalists doing shifts on nationals were usually paid around £250 day rate, which is unlikely to have changed.

Large news agencies such as South West News based in Bristol had partnerships with other news agencies based around the country which would buy and sell exclusive news and features to the nationals, mainly tabloid publications.

Raksha Malde-Kara developed a niche market in spiritual journalism after work experience in the local press, and contributing to London papers. She was paid £400 to £200 for ideas sold to tabloid magazines in her niche and £2,000 to £600 for newspapers and other media where she represented society from a spiritual perspective.

It was known that some freelance journalists that covered mainstream real-life would be paid much more for a story but would in return pay a case study such as a rape victim 10% of the profits made from the story. News agencies could previously make up to £30,000 for a story when there were higher newspaper circulation figures.

The Daily Mail was known to be the highest regular payer for a freelancer, paying around £600 to £900 for a typical story for its market. The issue in freelance journalism is when a story falls through and the freelancer isn’t paid.

This can be when the case study suddenly realises the reality of having their story published and no longer wants their story to be published or doesn’t like the write up by the in-house magazine journalist. The Sun newspaper and The News of the World were known to pay for all content even if they didn’t publish it.