We’ve all heard that reporters today need to be able to do more than just write. Now editors at newspapers, magazines, blogs and websites want to see stories accompanied by some kind of visual content, whether it’s photos, video, graphics and/or audio slideshows and even polls and other interactive content. Smart journalists are scrambling to learn the new technologies, applying their storytelling skills to multiplatform packages.
But having a variety of multimedia skills is just the beginning. Most of the bigger online publications with a strong commitment to multimedia have full-time photographers and even video producers on staff. If you’re not on staff, getting your work published (for pay) is no easy task. Place like The New York Times, say, produce all their multimedia content in-house, in part because they have the budget and the staff to do so, but also because it makes managing multimedia assets and all the technical specifications that go along with them much easier.
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That said, there are still opportunities to pitch and sell your work to online editors and even become a regular digital contributor. But you’ll need to learn as much as you can about the publication’s work flow, style and needs so that you can help fill any gaps they may have. You’ll also need to have your own equipment: that means the hardware and software you’ll need to deliver your content. And as always, it’s crucial to know what kind of multimedia content the site already publishes, so that you can identify what they’re likely to want. Here, editors and consultants reveal what freelancers can do to get noticed.
1. Build your portfolio
As in the print world, building a portfolio is key. If you’re a freelance multiplatform producer and you’re looking to show editors what you’re made of, you’ll need to provide samples of your work. Every editor we spoke to said they want to see your work before they commit to hiring you. That doesn’t mean you need to have been published on an established site; showcasing your video and audio slideshows on your own blog is enough to give an editor an idea of your ability to execute ideas visually.
2. Pitch the right editor
Pitching a video on a local football team to the sports editor for the print edition is a dead end. Most publications with a budget for multimedia have a separate team dedicated to digital content production. At the Wall Street Journal, for example, there are separate editors for multimedia and video, so don’t pitch an interactive Flash piece to the video editor and a video to the multimedia editor.
| “In the pitch, mention that, while you can deliver a finished product, you always keep raw files for editing later on in the process.” |
3. Know the publication’s style
As with all kinds of pitches, it’s best to have a solid understanding of what kind of multimedia content the site produces. You don’t want to bust onto the scene, guns blazing, looking for a way to revolutionize a site. Start out by showing the editor you can adapt to his needs.
“I have a lot of time for people who have seen what we do, the style, the length, the kind of presentation we have and when they can refer to other videos we’ve done,” says Adam Najberg, senior editor for video for The Wall Street Journal.
4. Include a print component
Most publications run multimedia content in conjunction with print stories. So, don’t just pitch an audio slideshow or a video without also including at least some text. That will give the piece some kind of landing page and help the digital editor identify where the story can be housed on the site (whether it’s in the style section, the sports section or world news) and which editor he will need to approach about the story.
At Budget Travel, assistant managing editor Tom Berger said while they’re still working out their video strategy, he’d be open to reading print pitches where the reporter also suggests a video component. But, as with their magazine content, what they’re really interested in seeing are service-oriented pitches of the “here’s how you can make your trip better” variety.
“The video that we would be interested in would have to have a strong tip component or a ‘how to,'” said Berger. “We’re not interested in just pretty footage. We like to give people practical means for improving their own trip anywhere and that would extend to video.”
5. Make sure the piece will be editable
When building your portfolio, by all means, package your content in an interactive Flash shell. Show off your full range of multimedia skills — just make sure that each individual component is editable. That means that if you’re pitching an evergreen multimedia Flash story on how oil is cleaned up after a spill, with interactive maps, charts and graphics, in addition to video and audio elements, make sure there’s a way to break the piece down and divide it up.
“Our students love to put together these packaged interactive multimedia Flash pieces, but most publications just want the components: the videos, audio, photos and text,” says Jeremy Rue UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. “We have had to learn to accept that when freelancing, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.”
Even sites looking for the convenience of a fully packaged story are going to want to be able to edit the components.
“If you’re putting together a video, don’t throw away the raw files,” says Amy Webb, CEO of Webbmedia Group, an international digital media consultancy. “An editor may like the material you’ve captured, but not necessarily the way you’ve edited it. In the pitch, mention that, while you can deliver a finished product, you always keep raw files for editing later on in the process.”
6. Pitch startups and smaller publications
With their established workflows, complex organizational structures and more robust staffs, many of the larger publications are harder to penetrate. Even if an editor likes your idea, he might decide it’s just more trouble than it’s worth to work with a freelancer, whereas smaller outlets could be dying to get their hands are pre-packaged content.
“There are plenty of smaller organizations: newspapers, newsletters, religious organizations, association websites, industry magazines that would love to get packaged multimedia stories ready to run on their sites,” says Webb.
| “Showcasing your video and audio slideshows on your own blog is enough to give an editor an idea of your ability to execute ideas visually.” |
7. Think breaking news
Breaking news also offers a chance for freelancers to break in to more traditional outlets. If you have proximity, flexibility and access to a developing news story that you know a particular outlet is following, then reach out to the digital editors and let them know how you can help.
“Jump on a developing story and take advantage of it and offer to help with it,” says Cory Powell, the managing editor for new products and innovation at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune. “If it’s a big story, that is one way to get in. Capture something that we are not going to get to.”
8. Offer expertise in a specific beat
If you’re uniquely qualified to report on high school football, community theatre or in some other area where you know a particular outlet is looking for more content, then use that to your advantage.
“Having experience where you can produce video in an important content area for us, such as music or high school sports” is another way to break in, says Powell. Just be sure you “have a body of work and a pitch to demonstrate” that expertise.
9. Get to know the backend
Obviously as a freelancer, you’re not going to have access to a company’s content management system (CMS,) but it does help to have at least some idea of how things work, so that you can adjust your pitch accordingly. For example, if a publication produces audio slideshows in SoundSlides, then you shouldn’t pitch an audio slideshow that was produced in Final Cut Pro and exported as a video file. Knowing these kinds of details will help you show the editor that you are willing and able to work within their means. The best way to get that information is to either email or call someone at the publication and ask them specific questions.
“This often means contacting someone in a lower echelon, like an online producer, and learning about what the publication can take and what their specifications would be before pitching to an editor higher up,” says Rue.
10. Focus on storytelling
More seasoned reporters may feel like recent college grads are nipping at their heels when it comes to their technical skills, but at least one editor says those tech skills still can’t compensate for a lack of reporting expertise.
“It’s still about good storytelling,” says Najberg. “It’s rare that a 23-, 24-, 25-year-old can nail a story that first time out. What captures my eye in a pitch: I want something that’s telling me how this is a great visual story and how you’re going to tell it and show it. You have to be a great storyteller: solid, strong and mature in delivering what you say you’re going to deliver.”
While freelancing multiplatform content may seem like a long and winding road, the good news is that demand for this kind of content is likely to grow down the line, so getting an early in with editors will put you ahead of the competition.
NEXT >> Ready, Set, Star: Produce Your Own Online Video Show
Darragh Worland is a New York City-based multimedia consultant and educator. She teaches multiplatform storytelling at mediabistro.com and NYU, digital video at ABC News, and helps print publications figure out how to incorporate multimedia into their daily operations.
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