ABSTRACT
For all its reputation as being a tough environment, in some ways a newsroom has comforts and certainties hardly known within the wider TV and radio worlds. For a start, the majority of jobs in news are on long-term contract, while freelance and short-term contract working is the norm for production. According to the latest workforce census conducted by Skillset nearly six in ten people working in independent TV production were categorised as freelance.1 To make a living and develop a career there demands resourcefulness, determination and resilience – and most importantly passion. Most people working in the industry become neither rich nor famous and do the job more for love than money.
