|
Member of the publishers' licensing society, the authors' licensing and copyright society and of the NUJ.
IGOs worked for on a freelance basis: European Space Agency (website, in support of PR), EUMETSAT, as history consultant and author of an official history, WHO, as a journalist, UNESCO (once), as a journalist. One story each for The FT, The Guardian, The Telegraph. One tip fee from The Independent, one or two for The Economist. One withdrawn by me from the commissioner of The Economist, with a full explanation by me to them of why and then published in
Science, People & Politics.
Locally I pitched, so far unsuccessfully, several significant stories to The Evening Courier (Halifax) and Brighouse Echo where I discerned a public interest defence, and telling those about whose actvities I was pitching a story about. These were not horrible stories of nefarious activity, but issues in the public domain of genuine public interest and which as such would have had a public interest defence. I am trained and able to report things other than science related. I wanted £450 per thousand published words from The Courier, but should have been thinking in terms of £500 per thousand published words for the story, and that is now my minimum rate for science and technology related journalism. I would have done the other story for £250 per thousand published. My site has no appropiate outlet for these local news stories and news feature stories, though both have a national backdrop that would make a sidebar for a local story.
Other unsuccessful recent pitches, unsuccessful for different reasons, to The Manchester Evening News and the Yorkshire Post on spec. The former became the idea for a science syndication news services, which might work with the N8 Science Events I am exploring as one of a number of ideas for publishing from the North of England, where is seems to me there are a number of editorial niches which could benefit the Northern economy. Whether or not there are commercially integratable business niches is a separate issue (viewing Yorkshire and Lancashire as a combined economic region, with integrated transport, costed according to distance travelled would, in my view, help).
The quantitative easing has been done, and industrial sectors now need to consolidate, expand and reshape in a non anti-competitive way. And, preferably, without creating sections of industrial sectors that find themselves having to take a huge part of the profit generation burden.
My pitches to The Journalist and the website of the Calderdale Branch of the NUJ were more successful.
Because being a journalist and editor is the common thread in and underpinning my professional life, any non-advertising words I publish on this website are, as far as I am concerned, subject to the Press Complaints' Commission.
I also offer science, technology and policy editorial services nationally and internationally, in support of PR and communication strategies. Rates depend on the task.
Go to the top of the page.
|