Hello friends! Welcome to another edition in an ongoing series of Q&A newsletters, in which I’ll pick out a few reader-submitted questions and offer my take. We’ve got a couple of heady topics today, so let’s dive right in. (As always, this is just one editor’s opinion; ask 10 other editors these same questions and you might get 10 different answers.) Leave a question in a comment on this post or email me at tim@freelancingwithtim.com and I may feature your question in a future edition. Does doing both journalistic writing and content writing inherently cause a conflict of interest?Saima asks: When I hear about people combining journalism and content work, my question is always how they handle conflicts of interest. For context, I'm a freelancer and I do 100% journalism. I would love to also write for start-ups, universities, etc., but I know I would lose at least one of my anchor clients because they're sticklers about wanting their journalists to appear objective. I did have a part-time job doing communications for a nonprofit for a while, and that was contained enough that I never had a problem. But I'm hesitant to start building up a complex web of corporate clients because I worry editors will look at me and say, “Too complicated, too risky.” In a phrase: It depends. (I know, I know, I hate that answer as much as you do.) The truth is, different publications have different guidelines for the type of other work you can do. (Which is a whole other issue, but we’ll talk about that later.) My general rule of thumb is that if you have any hesitancy whatsoever, it’s probably best to skip it. In this particular instance, if you’re okay with losing that anchor client and replacing them with content work — and, crucially, you’d make at least as much money or more in making the switch — it’s probably worth thinking about pursuing. That said, in taking on those content clients, you may be inadvertently creating problems for yourself down the road. One way to skirt around this is to avoid doing content work that’s even remotely related to your journalistic work; this doesn’t solve the problem, but it does give you a little more distance between the two sides of your business. But again, you simply never know. One other thing to keep in mind is that if you have even the slightest hint that there may be a conflict — real or perceived — ask your editor before taking on the assignment (or, even better, mention it in the pitch itself). Remember, perception is reality, so even if there isn’t a real conflict, but it could look like there is, that’s generally a disqualifying factor. More communication is always better, and good editors will appreciate your transparency. If you like what you’re reading, please consider subscribing to the free or paid version of this newsletter. Paid subs get access to all past and future paid-only posts, the archive of recorded Zoom panels, the exact text of a pitch I sold to The Atlantic, a guide on how much pre-reporting you should do for a pitch, a piece on the three questions you should end every interview with, 50% off all Zoom workshops, and more. How close is too close with a source?Anonymous asks: I heard it can be a conflict of interest to have a relationship with a source, but the only way I'd be able to write about a topic I'm very interested in pursuing is by using my professional relationship with the director of a prominent research lab. Over the past four years, I've done consulting work to support his team in various studies, which are grant-funded, and I'd like to interview him about his recent work and our current project. At the moment, they have a new, evidence-based diagnosis under consideration for addition to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the main reference book on mental illness). If approved, it will revolutionize a major aspect of our mental health system. When I brought up interviewing my source, he was excited about the idea and offered me the first interview. There's very little published yet and nothing in mainstream magazines. I'm passionate about the topic and have related personal experience, so I'd love to write about it. I also heard there may be an exception to the conflict-of-interest rule for freelancers with “insider status” or “exclusive access.” Would either apply in this situation, or could I ask my source to provide that? (I'm unclear what they mean.) I'd love to hear your thoughts! Sooooo relationships with sources … ahem. We’ll tread lightly here. This will really depend on the publication you’re pitching. I can say that, in general, publications with strict ethics guidelines would probably turn this down. I’ve had to personally do this, and I’ve had freelance friends get turned down for being “too close to the story,” even if it was in a professional setting. There are circumstances where this would be okay, but again, it would depend on the publication. Situations like this are often case-by-case scenarios, so this is definitely something to ask your editor. Better safe than sorry. Again, perception is reality, but there are some publications that would see this as an asset. In this case, because you’ve worked directly for this person, it will probably be a tough sell. If, say, you met at a conference or simply crossed paths professionally, you’d definitely have a better shot. But this one is, obviously, more complicated than that. All that said, I can’t give you a clear-cut answer; only the editor you’re working with can. Can you really write a story if the main subject of the story doesn’t participate?In a recent workshop I hosted on structuring long-form narrative features, in which we analyzed this story, Anonymous asked: I'm surprised the author never interviewed the couple she's done a long-form story on, and was able to paint such an intimate picture of. (“Myka and James, who declined to be interviewed for this story but whose digital footprint spans countless hours of testimonials ....”) Forgive a dumb question, but how common is this outside of tabloids? Not a dumb question at all — this is kind of a thing! A story’s subject can decline to participate for any one of a million reasons, none of which should necessarily be taken as shady. I mean, in this case, put yourself in their shoes: If you went through a failed foreign adoption that turned the entire internet against you, would you want to spend three months talking about it with a reporter for a national magazine? For example, in profiles this is called a write-around: profiling a subject without ever directly interacting with the subject. The most famous example, and one of the most famous pieces of American journalism, is Gay Talese's “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold” in Esquire from 1966. (That's behind a paywall, but here's the Wiki; yes, a magazine story has its own Wikipedia entry.) Required reading for every journalist, or just anyone who enjoys flawless writing. Oh, a few other things …
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