Buzz
The traditional view of a writer is often a relentless, hard-drinking outsider who uncovers groundbreaking stories and makes a fortune. While we may not expect every journalist to be a Tom Wolfe or every author to be an Ernest Hemingway, the gap between fantasy and the actual life of a professional writer is vast.
10. Content Assembly Line
Ask any aspiring journalist where they see themselves in a few years, and they'll likely respond with something like, 'In a reputable newsroom, covering major stories.' What they won’t say is, 'Sifting through Buzzfeed and Upworthy, searching for any trivial content to turn into an article.' Yet, this is the grim reality for many of them.
As traditional newspapers face financial struggles, their online counterparts are scrambling to find quick and easy stories. They post anything that will generate clicks, which often means reusing popular content. The Daily Mail is a notorious example, with one journalist quitting its Australian branch in 2014, disillusioned by its use of 'churnalism.' Websites like the Huffington Post mostly operate by repurposing others' content.
Even more established newsrooms aren’t much better off. For many young journalists, 'reporting' often involves rewriting press releases quickly for a meager wage, with local news sites buying the content and presenting it as original reporting. At least in these cases, your real name might not be attached.
9. The Era of Controversial Clickbait
Have you ever come across an article with such a ridiculous title that you immediately knew the author was clueless without even reading it? That clueless writer likely despises their title as much as you do, and for a good reason – they didn’t come up with it.
In newsrooms, it’s the subeditors' job to create article titles. Their goal is to generate as many clicks as possible by crafting eye-catching headlines. At best, your work is accompanied by an intriguing title that draws in readers genuinely interested in your content. At worst, it sits beneath a title designed to mislead or provoke readers into clicking by upsetting them.
For instance, in early 2014, a writer at Pajiba.com published an article titled 'Walter White, Jamie Lannister, and How We Morally Process Murder and Rape Differently.' The essay explored how rape is viewed more harshly than other crimes in fiction, causing tension for fans who cheer for antiheroes. When Salon.com republished the article, they gave it the headline 'Why the ‘Game of Thrones’ rape scene caused fans to react in the worst possible way.' This title misrepresented the article by suggesting it criticized fans for their reactions to rape (or their refusal to confront it).
In 2009, the UK's Daily Star newspaper ran a story claiming a celebrity was charging fees to attend events. While the claim itself was dubious, the headline was far worse—it read 'Peaches: Spend night with me for £5k,' implying the celebrity was a prostitute. She filed a libel lawsuit.
8. Deceptive Editing
While a title might be bad, we typically expect the body of the article to be the writer's work. We assume that any edits are small, usually for the sake of accuracy. After all, no reputable news outlet would intentionally twist the content to turn the writer into a villain, right?
Actually, that’s exactly what they would do. In 2010, the Daily Mail purchased a piece from a seriously ill freelancer, confined to her home, about how writing had boosted her self-worth and empowered her to reject welfare. The Mail rewrote the article as 'Middle Class and Hooked on Benefits,' removing all references to her illness and framing her as someone dependent on government assistance.
In another instance, they interviewed a woman about starting a business in the countryside. They turned it into a story about women abandoning the city 'in search of rural romance,' fabricating quotes to portray her as an adulteress.
These are just a few instances. Editors often push a writer’s opinions to be more extreme or remove subtle details to provoke outrage and generate clicks.
7. Bullying
A comprehensive survey of UK news outlets by the Press Gazette exposed a troubling culture of bullying. Instead of fostering teamwork, editors pressured reporters into stealing each other's stories. Many female journalists revealed that their chances for promotion were often tied to whether they’d engage in sexual relations with their boss. One in five women reporters reported being physically assaulted by colleagues.
When the National Union of Journalists released the survey’s full findings, they revealed that over 70 percent of respondents from national papers reported being bullied. On local papers, the figure was nearly 100 percent.
6. ‘Expert’ Advice
Have you ever looked online for advice on your finances, career, or relationships? The person who wrote that article likely knew even less than you do.
Across the web, a huge number of so-called expert columns are churned out by people who lack any real knowledge on the topic. For instance, Textbroker offers to write content for websites at a rate of just 1.3 cents per word. Their process involves taking your order and assigning it to in-house writers, who race to claim the task and complete it quickly. These articles are usually only 500 words long, and most writers earn just a cent per word, meaning they have no time for proper research. The key skill for these writers is to make their ignorance sound convincing.
The result is a web filled with worthless advice. Content mills like eHow, according to contributors, have a history of publishing inaccurate information from freelancers who have little concern for accuracy. Even now, as content farms are on the decline, many short articles are still written by people with no genuine interest in the subject matter. Never trust advice from an anonymous or unsourced article online.
5. Nepotism And Privilege
Not every writer starts off working for a content mill or a low-paying site. Some earn prestigious journalism degrees and dream of becoming the next Bob Woodward or Carl Bernstein. However, without the right connections, their chances of making it big are slim.
Much like many other fields, journalism thrives on networking, and often, those networks are built through family. Wealthy parents frequently secure comfortable internships for their children, while talented graduates without such advantages are left struggling.
Even if these unlucky individuals manage to land an internship, their future prospects may still be limited. Internships demand a significant amount of unpaid, full-time work, which only those with the financial means to support themselves can afford to maintain for any length of time. This results in a growing number of journalists from similar backgrounds, fostering an echo chamber where alternative voices are rarely heard.
In the UK, the situation has worsened to the point where a government report determined that journalism ranks as the third-most socially exclusive profession, with only 10 percent of journalists coming from working-class backgrounds.
4. Working For Free
Many fields expect job candidates to do a bit of unpaid work. (Note: this doesn’t apply when writing for Mytour.) But content writing goes much further. Try starting at the bottom, and you might find yourself working for free indefinitely.
Take Bleacher Report, for example. In just five years, it grew to become the third-largest sports news website on the internet, trailing only Yahoo and ESPN. Each day, it attracts over one million unique visitors, generating tens of millions of dollars annually. Yet, they don’t pay their writers a cent. Not a single penny.
Instead, aspiring sports journalists accumulate 'points.' Once you hit 12,000, you are promoted to 'featured columnist' but still earn nothing. To be considered for an interview, you must accumulate another 14,000 points. Writing five full articles a week nets you 50 points.
In short, their business model is a colossal slap in the face to journalism. But it works so well that others have copied it. WhatCulture offers set pay to some writers, but mostly pays based on clicks, which can either reward a writer generously or leave them with nothing. The Huffington Post, on the other hand, pays so little that the Los Angeles Times once likened it to 'a galley rowed by slaves and commanded by pirates.'
It's not just the writers who are affected by this setup. By tying pay to views and output, websites encourage their columnists to produce the most sensational articles at lightning speed. The outcome? The Internet becomes flooded with rubbish while skilled, thoughtful writers are edged out.
3. Everyone Thinks They Can Do It
Visit any popular site and you'll find random commenters claiming they could write better. Some might actually be able to, but most haven't ever tried. Once you sit down to write, though—whether it's an unpaid column for Bleacher Report or anything else—you quickly realize that writing is tough.
At Mytour, crafting a typical article requires several hours of work, not including editing time. On a site like Cracked.com, the process takes even longer. By the time you're writing for the New York Times, weeks might go by to finish one article. Yet, you're tapping into years of experience and skill to engage readers and keep them hooked.
Writing a solid piece is as challenging and satisfying as building your own furniture. Unfortunately, it often lacks the same recognition. On a resume, 'freelance writer' might be interpreted as 'person sitting at home in sweatpants with cheese puffs.' To others, it might mean, 'They sleep in while I work at a real job.'
However, if you're serious about pursuing writing, click here, and we’ll guide you in getting started. No experience or connections? No problem! We’ll pay you $100 for your original, high-quality work on a subject you choose.
2. Abuse
No matter whether you're writing for a national paper or a well-known tech site, you're bound to encounter some form of criticism. It's part of the job. However, the kind of abuse varies. Female journalists, for instance, often receive horrific threats that can include violent, dehumanizing messages.
The simple approach is to focus on writing and ignore social media altogether. Yet, in today's world, a strong social media presence is a necessity for a writer. It's the key to turning a blog into a published book deal.
1. Dictated Content
Writers often don't have the freedom to pick their subjects. A lot of writing involves adhering to a rigid editorial direction that may be completely at odds with your personal beliefs.
This isn't just true for journalists and columnists. Hollywood screenwriters, for example, are seldom given the choice of their storylines. Instead, marketers collaborate with producers, brainstorm ideas, and then hand the writer a batch of notes. Even renowned figures like Joss Whedon aren’t immune. Marketers pushed the writers of the Indiana Jones franchise to introduce Shia Labeouf’s character to attract a younger demographic, which only made an already poor film worse.
The further you move down the writing ladder, the less likely you are to have creative control. You'll often find yourself pouring your time and energy into writing a piece you're not at all interested in.
