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Thursday 4 December 2008

Can just anyone be a writer?

If a rat can cook, can anyone be a writer now?

And now everyone is a hack, what hope for the professionals?

‘We’ve seen a commodification of words and news. We say “content” instead of “stories”, as if a newspaper is a vessel to be filled as cheaply as we can,’ says industry guru Kim Fletcher, the presenter of Can Newspapers Survive? on BBC Radio Four. ‘The willingness to pay, apart from to the big-name writers who are regarded as box office and are effectively part of the company’s marketing budget, is becoming limited.’

Still, I cannot think this is all doom and gloom. The writers’ strike has called attention to the fact that writers actually write, for a start. And while I think that while everyone’s OK with reading nutbags in chatrooms, or Metro on the Tube, there is also the recognition that free content is often content-free. If you want rubbish, it is freely available and all around, but if you want something more and better, you will have to pay. That will not change.

So I agree with those who say that actually, it’s a great time to be a journalist (though I’m not looking forward, I admit, to introducing my daughter as a 3 A.M. Girl). Frankly, there are no limits to getting your name out there. You will just have to embrace the fact that a lot of your work is going to be pro bono, like the stuff I do in the morning to ‘maintain’ my, er, ‘brand’. It’s also pretty great if you are working for a big successful juggernaut like the Sunday Times (I declare my interest here). Indeed, the only thing that a journalist needs to decide in the New Media Age of Change is how low they can go, as my colleague Toby Young points out. ‘I used to say I don’t get out of bed for less than $20,000, but the truth is I’ll do anything for 5p. Come to think of it, $20,000 is worth about 5p these days so maybe I’ll go back to saying it. Are you paying me for this quote?’

I tell him sharply ‘no’, then ask if he would encourage his children to pursue their careers in the craft. ‘I certainly don’t want my children to go into journalism,’ Toby says. ‘They might as well become hand-loom weavers.’

As to whether I’m being paid for this article, I am (indeed, I always make a point of demanding my full rate, even when filing for the sort of gentlemanly publication that assumes that no one actually makes a living out of work).

But the truth is â” not that I would ever let on, of course â” when it comes to doing this, there’s still a tiny part of me that remains thrilled to be paid at all.

More articles from: Rachel Johnson | this section

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