When I was a wee science writer working at my first internship, the thought of freelancing full time filled me with fear. I couldn’t conceive of voluntarily choosing the uncertainty that often accompanies that path. But I soon realized that for many people, freelancing is a compelling career choice. It’s a way to stretch yourself as a journalist, control your own schedule, and diversify to find stability in an increasingly unstable media climate. Many freelancers do not simply survive—they thrive on the freedom their job provides.
To find out more about the unique benefits and challenges of striking out on your own, I recently caught up with six colleagues who left their staff jobs in the last several years, for reasons ranging from burnout to craving more creative leeway in their work. Although many of them still miss aspects of their old positions, none regret making the leap. “Freelancing has given me the opportunity to pursue stories I’m passionate about,” says freelance journalist Erin Ross. But at the same time, she adds, “until I get a bit more of a cushion built up, income inconsistency will continue to be a big stressor.” She and the other participants share how they managed the transition, the ways in which freelancing has allowed them to broaden their journalistic horizons, and their tactics for dealing with the ups and downs of running a freelance business. (This discussion has been edited for length and clarity.)
The journalists who participated in this roundtable are:
Ari Daniel, a science journalist primarily based in Lebanon who has gone from staff jobs to freelance and back, most recently leaving a staff job in early 2022 to freelance before working for NPR
Yessenia Funes, a New York–based independent environmental journalist who has been freelancing full time for six months, following around three years on the side
Tiên Nguyễn, a Los Angeles–based multimedia journalist and documentary producer who has been freelancing for close to five years full time and another two years on the side
Sarai Rangel, a Mexico City–based science journalist who has been freelancing for six months
Erin Ross, a Portland, Oregon–based multimedia journalist who has been freelancing for one year
Jaqueline Sordi, a southern Brazil–based independent journalist who covers science and the environment and has been freelancing for five years
Giuliana: Why did you decide to leave your staff job?
Yessenia: I decided to leave my staff job because it wasn’t giving me the skills I needed. I wanted to grow as a writer, and the team there seemed most interested in [me] developing more editing skills. My stories always felt like they had more potential than they were given. So, I left to invest in my writing and growth. I wanted to follow my own creative drive.
Tiên: I definitely resonate with wanting to follow your own creative drive and also curiosity. I had gotten a chemistry PhD and wrote about chemistry for a university before a staff journalism job at a chemistry magazine, so I’d been itching to explore other fields of science for years by the time I left. I was also becoming more and more interested in video journalism versus print.
“[The] fear of rejection is still my biggest hurdle with freelancing—even though the rejections, when they come, are always very kind!” — Erin Ross, multimedia journalist
Erin: I left my staff job for my mental health. I spent two years covering COVID-19 (except for a few weeks when the whole state [of Oregon] caught on fire—covering that felt like a vacation). I was burned out. I asked my editors for more support, but it was pretty clear that wasn’t coming. I asked if I could go back to covering a wider variety of topics, maybe with a little less death, and was told that wasn’t possible. At that point, leaving didn’t really feel like a choice. My mental and physical health were in the gutter, and because of that my personal relationships were suffering.
Sarai: A few years ago, changes in [my] company’s structure prompted me to reevaluate my potential within the team. Shortly thereafter, I made the decision to start a family and welcomed my first child in 2020. With the pandemic in full swing, I had the opportunity to work remotely for nearly two years while caring for my newborn. When the call to return to the office finally arrived, the idea of transitioning to freelance work became even more appealing.
Ari: I’ve woven in and out of freelance and staff jobs since I began my career as a science journalist. And even when I’ve been on staff, I’ve often continued to do a little freelance work on the side. I loved my first staff job at [the PBS science documentary series] NOVA, where I was able to create digital video and multimedia content about all manner of science topics. Throughout, I felt challenged by new assignments, new formats, and new types of content. But I began to feel an urge to spread my wings in a different creative direction.
Jaqueline: I worked in a newsroom for eight years. As time went by, I started to feel the need to write specifically about the environment, which is my passion. I couldn’t find the time and space to do so over there.
Giuliana: Were you afraid to leave?
Yessenia: I was terrified! I grew up poor, so one of my biggest fears is returning to poverty. I was so, so scared of health bills piling up or being unable to cover other bills (like my car payment!). I knew that this jump was going to eat through my savings—and it did. It’s still terrifying some weeks. But I’ve been trying to stay positive and look at the bright side: So many editors and publications and organizations have been reaching out to work with me. There’s a market for folks like us—but it’s always a risk when there’s no generational wealth or no universal healthcare.
Sarai: This is probably one of the reasons why I stayed [at my staff job] for such a long time. Since I’ve left, the money the company paid me when my contract ended has allowed me to take it easy. But every now and then, worries about the future creep in. Similar to Yessenia, I grew up in a family with limited financial opportunities, and the fear of returning to that situation is always lurking.
Jaqueline: I was afraid I would not find [outlets that would] publish my articles. So, I decided to apply for a PhD [in environmental journalism] before leaving the newsroom. Once I got accepted, I left my job. I was able to work a lot as a freelancer during the four years of study, except in the final months, when I had to dedicate almost full time to writing the thesis.
Erin: I’m joining in the chorus of “terrified” here! [Though] when I initially left my job, I wasn’t very nervous. I was too tired to really do that kind of meta-thinking, and I had a lot of momentum and editors reaching out to me. But I was also very, very burned out, so eventually I decided to use my severance and savings and side-hustles to take some time off. Getting restarted was much harder. All that momentum was gone. Burnout was also hell on my self-confidence. Pitching is a really vulnerable feeling! That fear of rejection is still my biggest hurdle with freelancing—even though the rejections, when they come, are always very kind!
Ari: No, I wasn’t afraid. I trusted that I would find and be able to create the opportunities that I needed to make freelancing work. It also helped that I could rely on my wife’s health insurance when I first started, and I already had a stable of connections who I could pitch and do work for.
Tiên: I wasn’t afraid to make the leap because I felt like I’d been preparing for it for a long time. Crucially, my wonderful mentor Alex Witze [a TON board member and an independent science journalist and correspondent for Nature], whom I was paired with during my Open Notebook fellowship, invited me to join a small-ish email group of freelance science journalists of varying experience levels. I got to learn vicariously through them how they were making freelance work on a practical, financial, and emotional level.
Giuliana: How have you managed the transition from a stable income and workload to a variable one?
Yessenia: This has been the most challenging part of going freelance. For instance, I finally caught COVID-19 this weekend and, as a result, am missing out on nearly $4,000 worth of job opportunities. I don’t get paid sick time off anymore. I’m still figuring out how to manage this and ensure I have money for rainy days, but it’s been hard and really frustrating.
“Almost everything I know about journalism I’ve learned from my years working in a newsroom: From writing skills to editing and working on a tight schedule. I use all those skills in my freelance career.” — Jaqueline Sordi, independent journalist
Jaqueline: I still haven’t figured out how to deal with the inconsistency. I am earning more than I used to while working in a newsroom, so I have no trouble paying my bills. But this is still an anxiety factor.
Erin: I definitely struggle with the inconsistent income. At this point, I’m still making a little less than I was in my staff job: It’s enough to get by on a yearly scale, but it’s not always enough each month. I’ll be teaching science writing at Oregon State University this fall, and that monthly guaranteed income will make a big difference. I’ve been driving for a food delivery service on my off-time to cover the gaps. It’s a lot less than I make hourly as a journalist, but I can do it in my free time and the money is in my bank account within three days of earning it. Hopefully I’ll be able to stop driving this year, but until then—tip your delivery driver. :)
Tiên: I think managing the financial anxieties of freelance is the forever challenge. I find it tough, energy-wise, to make the math add up every month on reporting alone. I’ve taken gigs writing for universities and national labs that generally pay better and are less time-consuming because they’re assigned instead of pitched. For me, getting to decide how I spend my time is worth it. But I recognize that this is all possible because I don’t have any debt or family dependents or major medical costs.
Ari: When I’m freelancing full time, I try to find a long-term project that will provide a stable source of income over an extended period of time. I add smaller projects on top of that to fill out my schedule and diversify my work. When I first started freelancing, that long-term project was a podcast that I produced and hosted. These days, it tends to be editing work.
Giuliana: What things or skills were you able to take from your staff job? How do you use them in your freelance career?
Jaqueline: Almost everything I know about journalism I’ve learned from my years working in a newsroom: From writing skills to editing and working on a tight schedule. I use all those skills in my freelance career. For me, it was very important to have this experience as a journalist in a newsroom in the beginning of my career.
Tiên: Similar to Jacqueline, being in a newsroom was invaluable for learning all the fundamentals of reporting. One skill that really helped in my freelance career is understanding the different types of stories so editors know what you’re pitching. Being on the staff side, I paid attention to what types of stories we’d cover in-house versus freelance. I also saw how busy/overworked staff editors are. Editors need our pitches. That’s helped me keep a generally positive attitude about pitching—which is so much of freelancing.
Erin: I made a lot of great connections in my staff job, and I’ve taken those with me. I’m still a part of the local news scene, and the support from my former coworkers has been invaluable. I also gained a lot of confidence in my multimedia skills. My last job also planted the seeds of some passion projects, and I can’t wait to work on them (once I get a bit more financially stable.)
Sarai: Although I’m still in the early months of my freelance journey and haven’t officially launched yet, I’ve already received some assignments, one way or another. I believe that my years of working at a magazine have helped other colleagues and editors become familiar with my work. Additionally, I’ve gained the skill of understanding what editors expect from freelance contributors.
Giuliana: What new opportunities has freelancing offered you?
Ari: Freelancing offered me new clients and new mediums of work. [I was able to do] more radio and audio work. It offered a flexible schedule that I was fully in charge of. My staff job had been defined by a lot of administrative and middle-management work. But freelancing cleared all of that out of the way so I was able to focus my energy on creative projects with people I liked working with. The whole arrangement has brought me quite a lot of joy.
“I think the biggest piece of advice I’d offer is to do the legwork before making the transition to build relationships with editors and publications.” — Yessenia Funes, independent environmental journalist
Yessenia: Freelancing has allowed me to work with more editors and build my writing skills [accordingly]. I’ve had the opportunity to travel, paid by clients. I was in Brazil this summer and went to London this fall.
Erin: Yessenia, you’re living the freelancing dream! I haven’t had the chance to travel far for work yet, but it’s one of the potential opportunities that made me want to freelance in the first place. I’ve also got some longer-term projects I hope to pursue (boooooks???) that I’d never have had the opportunity to try while at a staff job.
Tiên: Like others have mentioned, freelancing lets me explore different mediums. I went from writing video scripts to making fully produced videos to producing video series and short documentaries. In recent years, I’ve taken screenwriting classes for fiction and now dedicate more time to learning that craft.
Sarai: Apart from the ability to care for my child at home, which is a significant motivation, freelancing has allowed me to engage in new projects that were previously out of reach due to time constraints. I’ve had the privilege to contribute to the development of [science journalism] competitions and journalism conferences in my country.
Giuliana: What do you miss most about a staff job? Have you found any way to recreate that?
Ari: With a staff job, there are benefits like insurance, retirement plans, paid vacation time, sick time, and holidays. As a freelancer, you’ve got to find a way to make ends meet, get insurance, and plan for your future financially.
The other things I miss are the holiday parties, the outings, and the spontaneous social interactions and conversations. It’s that social glue that drew me to a staff position in the first place and what I hunger for when freelancing full time. One way I recreate that is by helping organize meetups of journalists wherever I’m living. The gatherings are usually pretty popular because there are others who crave the same thing.
Erin: The sense of community and coworker support, for sure. Everything else—insurance, financial stability—will hopefully be fixed in time. But as great as freelance and journalist groups can be, there’s really no replacement for the newsroom vibe.
Jaqueline: I miss having a routine and also the sense of community. Having lunch everyday with my coworkers, planning my week according to the newsroom schedule. But besides that, there’s not much to miss.
Giuliana: Is there anything that could tempt you back into a staff job?
Yessenia: I would go back to a staff job if I was given the resources to fully invest in my writing, but those jobs just don’t seem to exist anymore. I don’t want a job with quotas or where I’m micromanaging a ton of little tasks because the team is too small. I don’t want to worry whether I’ll be laid off. It would take a lot for me to return to a staff job at this moment.
Erin: I love the flexibility of freelancing, and it was always my career goal. But I have ADHD, and the past few years have taught me how helpful the structure of a newsroom can be in managing [that]. I apply for staff jobs occasionally, but I’m pretty picky: Freelancing is giving me the freedom to hunt for a job I really want, not one I need. I’ll only work somewhere with management that cares about their staff’s work/life balance and mental health.
Tiên: Probably not; it’s hard to imagine a job that would accommodate all my interests. But I sometimes fantasize about finding a low-stress (non-writing) job that could pay the bills while leaving me enough energy to work on creative passion projects.
Giuliana: What’s one piece of advice you would offer to someone thinking about making the transition?
Yessenia: I think the biggest piece of advice I’d offer is to do the legwork before making the transition to build relationships with editors and publications. Make sure people know you’re available for work. Going independent is scary, but it’s so worth it. However, we do need to think about paying for bills and health insurance, so make sure you have enough work lined up to be successful.
“Sometimes you just have to leap, and trust that you’ll be okay.” —Ari Daniel, NPR
Also, know your worth. Don’t settle for scrap assignments that pay awfully. If we all push collectively for better wages, editors will begin to recognize that it’s what we deserve!
Jaqueline: You have to organize your finances and see if your personality is compatible with the instability of a freelance career. If it’s compatible, go for it! There’s plenty of opportunities out there.
Erin: If you can get a little nest egg together before you get started, it’s a huge help. And insurance will cost more than you expected.
Tiên: Build community with fellow freelancers. These folks will weather the storm with you, help you decode weird interpersonal interactions with editors, give you inside info on pay rates, and cheer you on as you ask for more. They’ll also make editor intros for you, offer feedback on pitches, pass along work they can’t take—and you’ll do the same for them.
Ari: Sometimes you just have to leap, and trust that you’ll be okay. It can be scary, but if you wait for everything to be lined up, the perfect moment of transition may never present itself. So, you have to step into a space of not knowing fully how it will all work out. It’s in that state that you’ll be motivated to piece together the projects and priorities that sustain you.
Giuliana Viglione is a Washington, DC–based science and climate journalist. She is currently an editor at Carbon Brief—where she leads the team’s coverage of food, land use, and biodiversity—and a TON early-career fellow sponsored by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. Her work has appeared in Nature, Chemical & Engineering News, Gizmodo, Discover, and other outlets, and she was a 2018 AAAS Mass Media Fellow at King 5 News. Giuliana earned her PhD in oceanography at Caltech, where she co-founded the science communication outlet Caltech Letters. She is happiest being on a boat or reading a book, and preferably doing both at the same time. Follow her on Twitter @GAViglione.