Hello friends! I hope you all had a lovely and relaxing Labor Day and actually took a little time off for yourself. (Such that we freelancers can ever really unplug, anyway.)
In honor of the holiday that celebrates the labor movement and all workers, I’m unlocking this paid-only post from last month about the worst freelance job listing I’ve ever seen. It’s offensive, degrading, and all-around horrible, but it’s worth reflecting on this week.
But instead of just kvetching about exploitative labor practices in the freelance community, take this instead as my rallying cry for all of us to stop even considering roles that take advantage of freelancers. There are endless companies that actually value the work of freelancers, so anytime you see something like this, just call it out and move on with your day. (Do as I say, not as I do — this listing, of course, now lives in my dumb brain rent-free.)
September’s Zoom workshop lineup
On Sept. 17 @ 4 p.m. Eastern, Emily Stewart of Business Insider will join us for a session on how to come up with more, and better, knockout story ideas. Emily is famous for finding fresh, unique angles to topics and digging up ideas that never fail to surprise and delight readers — if you ever see a BI headline that makes you think, “Wow, I never would’ve even thought of that idea,” odds are it’s an Emily special. She'll give us a peek into her process so we can generate stronger, more original, and more attention-getting story ideas.
On Sept. 24 @ 4 p.m. Eastern, Slate features editor Shannon Palus will join us for a workshop on how Slate builds its iconic features, and how we can use those techniques in our own writing. Shannon is an ace editor at crafting unmissable stories, and she works with and commissions a ton of freelancers, so I’m beyond thrilled for her to bring her years of expertise to this workshop and share her tips, advice, secrets, and wisdom about pitching and writing the perfect feature story.
On Sept. 29 @ 4 p.m. Eastern, Cristina Silva, managing editor and newsroom recruiter for The Boston Globe and author of Ask the Recruiter at The Poynter Institute, will join us for a workshop on how to position yourself for full-time journalism jobs. Working with job candidates is part of Cristina’s job at The Globe, and she brings that know-how to her careers column for Poynter, so this session will be chock-full of tips, advice, and guidance on applying for full-time positions. Bring all those questions you’ve been curious about to a real-life newsroom recruiter!
Upgraded subscribers get 50% off registration to all events, and all registrants will get a recording, whether or not they attend live.
As you may know, I spend a lot of my day scrolling LinkedIn (I just love it, and you should too!), and last month I came across the worst freelance job listing I’ve ever seen. Normally, tragically, an exploitative gig is nothing of note — anyone who has spent any time on LinkedIn has seen countless examples of underpaying, overworking, out-of-touch job posts — but this one was especially heinous. Horrifying, even. (I’m not linking to the original post I saw because the person who shared it, if I’m reading their post correctly, was just passing it along. I hope.)
The ad, which has been taken down but you can view a screenshot I took of the original listing here, was for a contract senior editor role at an unnamed publication. Red flag number one (we’d lose count if we kept track, so we won’t bother), but not the most egregious of offenses. Listings for unnamed companies aren’t exactly uncommon, awful as the practice is. But that’s only the beginning.
When I first saw it, the post listed a rate “from $2,500 a month.” Not bad for a contract gig that would take a few hours per week! But as you’ve surely guessed, this job entails, well, a little more than that. It asks for one person to take on, among other things, the responsibilities of:
An editorial director
A managing editor
An assignment editor who can maintain a freelance roster
A writer
A copy editor
A fact-checker
An audience growth strategist
An affiliate/commercial content editor
… all wrapped up in one job that also calls for “availability for occasional nights, weekends, breaking developments, and major industry events” and “some travel required.” For a freelancer. With zero mention of benefits. Again, from $2,500 per month. Oh, but hey, at least it’s remote and the “starting monthly comp is negotiable.”
Are you fucking kidding me?
An update: After I originally published this (and took the screenshot linked above), the rate was increased to “from $4,000 a month.” Better, but that is maybe about a quarter or fifth of what a job like this at an “established media/publishing company” would offer (not to mention benefits and full-time status). And, again, an increase in rate doesn't solve the inherent problem: There's no possible way one person could reasonably or successfully handle all of these responsibilities.
I wanted to write about this not to call out a uniquely terrible and insulting listing — which it is — but for the exact opposite reason: This, unfortunately, really isn’t all that unique. (Stop me if you’ve heard this rant before.) It may be on the far end of the spectrum of atrocious freelance jobs, but listings just like it are everywhere, and they keep coming.
I always try my best to offer something insightful or actionable with every newsletter, but I’ve got nothing here. Seeing this listing — along with the fact that the person who posted it called the opening “positive media-related news” — was just so incredibly demoralizing. This is the shit we’re up against! It’s depressing, dispiriting, and honestly hurtful that, at some unnamed company, a hiring manager crafted this listing and thought, “Yep, looks great, post it!”
I don’t have any concrete takeaways from this. So maybe this is more of a plea than anything: We, as a community, need to stop normalizing and giving our collective stamp of approval to these jobs by taking them. Of course, no one can know anyone else’s personal situation, and I’d never look down on how a freelancer collects a paycheck. We all have bills to pay. But when we take these predatory jobs, we’re encouraging them and, by extension, telling the companies that list them: “Yes, this is okay.”
So the next time you see someone post bullshit like this, don’t be shy about calling out these listings if you’re in the position to do so. These jobs are an insult to our industry, they disrespect the work we do, and we need to treat them as such.
/end rant
Have a wonderful week!
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Oh, a few other things …
Land a great pitch recently? I’d love to feature it in a future edition of our #pitchesthatsold series! Email me at [email protected] and put “#pitchesthatsold” in the subject line. Can’t wait to see ’em!
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