NUJ calls for roundtable on freelance pay
The NUJ has written to the government’s new Freelance Champions calling for a media roundtable to address the pay precarity experienced by freelance journalists.
Leila D’Aronville and Lizzie Crump were recently appointed by the Department for Digital Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to “advocate for the creative industry’s 703,000 self-employed, working to make sure their voices shape future policy.”
The NUJ represents a significant number of freelances working across the industry – from writers, broadcasters and editors to photographers, videographers and PR professionals. Last year the union responded to the government’s consultation on late and poor payment to highlight exploitative practices - such as kill fees, payment upon publication, and self-billing - as well as the lack of a statutory right for freelances to trades union recognition.
In the letter Laura Davison, NUJ general secretary, highlights the imbalance in power between freelances and the news platforms that engage them:
“Few rates of pay for freelance journalists have risen over the past three decades - in many cases they have actually fallen. Copyright has been taken without compensation. Many companies refuse to pay for work that they have commissioned, but decided not to use, and many freelances are forced to offer unfair indemnities for their work that would require life-changing sacrifices were they ever called in.”
A 2024 survey by the Authors Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) found that, on average, full-time freelance journalists earned £27,000 a year compared to the UK average salary of £48,500.
The union has proposed a roundtable with representatives of the news media to a roundtable meeting to discuss the pay precarity experienced by freelance journalists. “This would be an opportunity for you to hear about the issues firsthand, and allow those who engage them to speak to how we have got to this position,” Davison writes.
The NUJ will continue to fight for freelances’ rights and on Saturday the union’s London Freelance branch held an all-day event with a series of practical panels on how to make a living as a freelance journalist.