FFJ Guest Voices - Is freelancing the accessible route into journalism?
And don't forget our Premium newsletter offer
In this week’s newsletter Lucy Currier, discusses whether a freelance career can offer accessible opportunities for journalists with disabilities where staff entry jobs have failed. Lucy is currently doing work experience at FFJ. She is passionate about telling the stories of underrepresented voices. She has a range of journalistic experience through her own blog writing for Disability Horizons.
Find out more about Lucy at her LinkedIn page here or Instagram.
We’ve all sat through school assemblies, you know the ones where you’re told if you work hard enough, if you’re motivated enough and crucially, if you do your schoolwork to the best of your ability, then you will go far in life. This idea has always stuck with me because from my perspective, the above statement is actually not true.
I have just completed my Certificate in Foundation Journalism supported by the NCTJ and the Academy for Disabled Journalists. While both have been extremely supportive, I have always been very aware of the barriers that I have to overcome in order to study and work.
I feel such a sense of achievement and excitement wondering where this qualification is going to take me, but then I think about those barriers and battle with periods of negative ‘what is the point’ thoughts. The point is that I love writing and I think being a journalist, particularly a freelance journalist, will enable me to meet my needs and have a fulfilling career.
For context, I have a disability called Cerebral Palsy Spastic Quadriplegia. I need help with all daily tasks. This includes everything that you do to get ready for the day.
In order to complete my studies, I’ve had to study remotely as I’ve never had the support in place to be up, ready, and out the door in order to participate in in-person learning. I’m a qualified journalist who over the last few years has wanted to apply for internships and other entry-level roles alongside my studies, but have been prevented from doing this because of my access needs.
Entry-level barriers
All entry-level journalism positions require me to be able to leave the house and get to my job on time. Having to rely on other people to get anywhere makes this impossible. If I don’t have somebody with me, I can’t leave the house.
Internships are often office-based roles with long and/or irregular hours, so even if I could get to a role on time, the energy and stamina required would not be doable long-term. Working remotely takes this pressure off and means that I have energy to put into writing that would otherwise go into commuting.
This is not just an issue for me. The barriers I raise are true for a lot of people.
‘Accessible’ doesn’t always mean accessible
Society thinks that removing steps for wheelchair users makes somewhere accessible. That statement might be a little bit reductive, but it’s my experience. In reality, removing steps is a good start, but it doesn’t mean that the building is accessible.
Once I’m through the front door, I start looking around to see exactly what’s possible. Assuming where I need to go is on a different floor, are the lifts big enough for my wheelchair?
Once in the lift, can I reach the buttons? When the lift reaches my floor, is there enough room for me to get out and get where I need to be? Most places are designed with just enough room for two people walking in opposite directions.
If I can do all that, can I access the toilet? It’s very rare that I actually can without some alterations being made. The time that it takes me to eat and use the toilet is a lot longer than your average break.
Journalism is fast paced. I wouldn’t want, nor is it likely, that someone would hire me if somebody else could do the job more efficiently than I could. Being outside my house means I’m at a disadvantage to everyone else and that everything takes me a bit longer - and all this before I’m even starting to do the actual job.
I’ve never actually applied for an in-person role because of the reasons I’ve just stated which can make me feel like I have failed before I’ve even tried.
Looking for another way
Because I’ve been acutely aware of the barriers, it wasn’t long into my journalism studies that I seriously started thinking about working as a freelancer. All the environmental barriers I’ve just talked about would disappear as my home is adapted for my needs.
No one can see how fast or slow I’m doing the work as long as I do what I say I’m going to do in the timeframe given. The flexibility to work as and when I can is the major attraction. The outside world just cannot currently accommodate my needs to the extent that I’d need in order to do a good job.
The downsides are there is no clear path to becoming a freelancer and no fixed income. This is true for all of us, disabled or not. There is no guarantee of success, but this is the only way that I can see myself being able to do what I love for a living.
Freelancing is not just a career choice for me, it’s the only choice. The flexibility of being a freelance journalist gives me not only a barrier-free environment, but the flexibility to work around the schedule of my care, pace my work according to my energy levels and showcase what I can do without being judged for being different.
With hard work, determination and talent, I will succeed. I’m just not sure what my success looks like yet. Something all freelancers starting out have in common.
Premium newsletter offer
Also a quick reminder, if you’re not already an FFJ Premium newsletter subscriber but you want to give us a try, Authory are offering three months free access to our Premium newsletter if you sign up for their service.
All you have to do to access this limited offer, is sign up to a free Authory account via this link (it won’t work if you’re already signed up to Authory - sorry).
Triumph of the week
Asking for a much-needed extension and an editor being very accommodating.
That feeling when
You’re trying to fit five days of work into three.
We love to hear your feedback on everything we do, so feel free to drop us an email anytime at freelancingforjournalists@gmail.com
Bye for now!
