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One way to get excellent clips? Go off to an exotic locale and start reporting as this guy and his friends did.

Good tips on setting up a freelance business. Understand what you are selling, the nature of the transaction, and who you are selling to.

Two guys I know have asked me to help them on their books. In the process of doing so I came across this interesting and useful list of "7 things I wish I knew before writing my first book." I'm sending the link along to both of them.

So you want to be a 21st century future journalist of tomorrow? Read on.

The Journalism Shop is trying to make the best of the worst of times.

Check out "Mentors, Money, And Where to Find Them" from Caitlin Kelly.

Yes, blogging can enhance a writing career, especially for young people.

Do you know the jargon for jobless journalists? It's in the Huffington Post and any freelance writer will appreciate it.

If you have interest in the media business read this cautionary tale that outlines what it takes to get into media journalism in these topsy-turvy times.

Do we live in a "gig economy," as editor Tina Brown suggests?

Health-care is a central question for freelance writers. This article surveys the problem and offers some possible options. Worth reading.

Students shouldn't be discouraged from going into journalism despite all the gloomy news. This article from Online Journalism Review surveys how Journalism schools and departments are accommodating an increasing interest in journalism and writing to the changing realities of the journalism profession.

A veteran news reporter put it this way: "I would advise students to go into journalism. If they have a passion for news reporting, by all means go for it. They just need to understand that the format is changing. But that's always been true. Blogs didn't exist for me when I graduated from college 28 years ago. It's an even more rapid change now. But if you care about writing about news, there will be a place for you."

Craigslist gets a bad rap from time to time. When I comb job leads with CL I am very careful and can usually spot a bad ad right off. But, as this story from the Minneapolis Post shows, sometimes a Craigslist ad can do wonders for a writer.

Reuters has a handbook for journalism that is very useful for journalists and freelance writers.

Here's a two-parter that describes what writers may face in the near future in the "everything is free, whoopee," 21st century. The second part is a bit more realistic about content-being-free and suggests writers will be more colloborators with publishers and agents since those entities will be weakened by the new publishing model(s) now arising.

These tips are helpful for the introverts among us who are looking for jobs.

Do we need a national strategy to save the news?

Are you part of the global work force of freelancers? Pretty good insight in this NY Times article about the writing marketplace at this moment.

Freelance writers should read this from the NY Times, about Inkwell Publishing and the problems they are having paying writers. It puts a lot of freelancers in jeapordy. Rather than figuring out who is to blame in this it's better to see the inner workings of the publishing world and the lines that connect each part of the puzzle.

The Gawker addresses the question, "slave labor, the new media profit model?"

This has been an ongoing issue for many years, even before the internet. Professional writers should stay away from any market that wants a freebie or pays only cents/word. And if you're in a position where you need writing credits stay in that position for as little a time as possible. Research markets! Find out how much they pay. The more attractive rates require more effort and skills. Take your effort and skills to the level of the requirements of the market.

What are journalism schools teaching about social media? This. It's worth looking at by any journalist or writer who wants to catch up on the new writing platform.

This is a very informative series that reviews the state of journalism, sketches out a history, and then suggests five "paths to cash" for journalists and writers in the present day.

If you're a business journalist it might be prudent to read this article about "legal considerations" in writing about business.

No one can argue that these are not interesting times in the world of journalism. Jeff Jarvis tries to outline a "new news process," but it is all becoming like a dysfunctional trial where no one is telling the truth, only trying to convince the innocent or not-so-innocent jurors that they possess the real facts. And the jurors end up using little but their common sense and gut to render a verdict.

How does an out of-work-journalist cope? He has some good tips about the problem.

Is this another outsourcing story? Or is it a "flatness of the Earth," story?

Listen to the truth of the matter from a young journalists point of view. But he also sees the future and embraces it. The young have a lot of clout. They must be the market that demands excellent journalism no matter what platform it is delivered on.

Going from corporate to entrepreneurial: One guy's story.

The ranks of the freelance world are swelling.

Interested in the state of the book business these days? The senior vice president of Farrar, Straus & Giroux has a pretty poignant, dark view of it these days.

Harvard Crimson editors are bailing out of journalism. "Some Crimson editors who want to practice journalism are doing it online or pursuing other professions, such as law or politics, and contributing freelance articles..." But the article points out that enrollment is up at other j-schools. “To some young people, the turbulence itself is interesting, rather than off-putting,” said Rick Edmonds, a media-business analyst at the Poynter Institute, a nonprofit organization in St. Petersburg, Florida, that trains reporters. “We’re going through a period of reinvention and they want to be part of that.”

Pretty good summary of the dilemma of journalism and why it's important. And, ultimately, the public, the self-ruling democracy will get what it wants, if not needs.

Then again, there is little sentimentality when it comes to the business of newspapers.

It's not a good sign when the mother and journalist does not encourage the daughter to follow in her footsteps.

The Los Angeles Times has the ins and outs of freelance writing for TV comedians.

Social networking is a recommended technique for college students to get their first job.

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David

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