Welcome
Freelance Forum is organised every year by the Dublin Freelance branch of the National Union of Journalists, with support from Coimisiún na Meán.
The Forum is made up of two live day-long events in the Spring and Autumn, and a monthly podcast, all aiming to keep freelance journalists and students up to date on new industry developments, opportunities and skills updates in Ireland.
You can listen to this and all podcasts from the Freelance Forum, including archive recordings covering a decade of Forum events, on Apple Podcasts, using the podcatcher app of your choice, or at the Freelance Forum Soundcloud page from Dublin Freelance.
Freelance Forum 90: This Freelancing Life
NUJ life membership recipients Fr Brian D’Arcy, Peter Murtagh, and Pat Ruddy talk with Stephanie Costello, freelance journalist looking back on a career in journalism – and other careers. Recorded live at the Autumn 2024 Freelance Forum on 21 October.
With an introduction by Seamus Dooley, NUJ Irish Secretary.
Freelance Forum 89: The Editors
Pitching to The Press. Jillian Bolger, Weekend/food & travel editor, Irish Examiner and Karen Morgan, Ireland Visuals editor, The Sunday Times talk with freelance journalist Stephanie Costello about pitching in the current newspaper environment, and the art of the pitch, with particular emphasis on popular news media.
Freelance Forum 88: The Publishing Brief
The world of publishing. From traditional print publishing to e-publishing and independent publishing, with literary agent Jonathan Williams and writers Gerald M Kilby and Kieran Fagan
Freelance Forum 87: Climate Change
Reporting on climate change: Irish Independent environmental correspondent Caroline O’Doherty, journalist Rosalind Skillen and tv/film climate editor Elaine Walsh talking with freelance journalist Priyanka Borpujari. Recorded live at the Autumn 2024 Freelance Forum event on 21 October.
Freelance Forum 86: Fran McNulty
RTÉ broadcaster and NUJ joint vice president Fran McNulty talks about the challenges facing journalists. Also heard is NUJ Irish Secretary Seamus Dooley. Recorded live at the Autumn 2024 Freelance Forum event on 21 October.
Freelance Forum 85: Liz Carolan on tracking political advertising
Writer and activist Liz Carolan talks about her newsletter The Briefing, which monitors political advertising expenditure by political parties, both online and in print and other media, and dealing with disinformation online. You can subscribe to the newsletter at thebriefing.ie.
Freelance Forum 84: The Future of Media in Ireland and A.I.
The Future of Media in Ireland, and Artificial Intelligence. A Halloween Story.
[And don’t forget to check our Freelance Forum https://dublinfreelance.org/freelance-forum-autumn-2024]
Freelance Forum 83: Joe Armstrong
Writer and journalist Joe Armstrong talks about how journalism covers religion, and why journalists need to hold on to their scepticism when reporting on religious issues.
You can follow Joe at his Substack: Joe the Human, Podcast: Losing My Religion, and website.
Memoirs: Losing Religion, Finding Myself, a Memoir Series
In My Gut, I Don’t Believe
Saved By A Woman: A Second Memoir
Freelance Forum 82: DCTV
Brian Greene, Outreach and Training Coordinator at Dublin Community Television, talks about the world of community television, how it can provide an outlet both for community groups and for freelance journalists, the differences between television and radio production, and plans for the future.
Brian also runs the websites radio.ie and pirate.ie
Freelance Forum 81: Writing an Effective Press Release
Robert Dunne talks with business journalist, publisher and media trainer Frank Dillon of the Public Relations Institute of Ireland.
Freelance Forum 80: Daire Dempsey of TENI
Daire Dempsey, policy officer with the Transgender Equality Network Ireland (teni.ie) talks about issues facing transgender people in Ireland, the good and the bad of media coverage, and what they would like to see improving in the future.
Further resources and information at https://teni.ie
Small Trans Library: https://smalltranslibrary.org/
Trans Equality Together: https://www.transequalitytogether.com/
Freelance Forum 79: Rónán Ó Domhnaill on Supports for Journalism
Rónán Ó Domhnaill, media development commissioner with Coimisiún na Meán, talks about the latest work on the Courts Reporting Scheme and the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme, the timetable for rolling out the schemes, and issues in fair and balanced coverage of election and referendum campaigns in Irish news outlets.
Freelance Forum 78: Privacy and Safety Online
Fergal Crehan is a barrister, with an interest in privacy and data protection.
He speaks on staying safe online as journalists, personal privacy safeguards, and protecting work and personal data and sources.
Recorded live at Freelance Forum Spring 2024.
Freelance Forum 77: Newsletters
Marketing consultant Drew Sheil and Dublin Inquirer co-founder Sam Tranum discuss the use of email newsletters to report news and as a way for freelance journalists to promote their own work. The discussion is chaired by freelance journalist Stephanie Costello. Recorded live at the Spring 2024 Freelance Forum on 8 April 2024.
Freelance Forum 76: Pitching Your Story
Pitching To Editors with Jo Linehan (Sunday Times Climate magazine) Charlie Taylor (Business Post, Connected) and freelance journalist Kathryn Johnston, recorded live at the Spring 2024 Freelance Forum on 8 April 2024 in Dublin.
Freelance Forum 75: Tim Dawson, IFJ
Tim Dawson, deputy general secretary of the International Federation of Journalists and a former president of the NUJ, delivers an opening address on Journalism In Troubled Times at the Spring 2024 Freelance Forum event in Dublin on 8 April 2024.
Freelance Forum 74: Diversity in Irish Media
Priyanka Borpujari, James Casey [https://ilmi.ie/], Paula Fagan [https://lgbt.ie], and Aoife Kavanagh [https://www.unhcr.org/ie] discuss media diversity and issues of inclusion and equality. both in newsrooms, and in news coverage. Recorded live at the Spring 2024 Freelance Forum.
Freelance Forum 73: Walaa Sabah
Journalist Walaa Sabah talks about life in Palestine, being separated from her family since last year, and the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Walaa Sabah is the project manager of We Are Not Numbers. She previously held the position of community outreach and partnership officer.
In 2022, Walaa won the UK’s prestigious Chevening scholarship and earned a first-class MSC degree in business with operations management from Warwick Business School.
She works as a freelance journalist. You can read her articles on the MEE, EI, Mondoweiss, and the New Arab.
Freelance Forum 72: Jeff Jarvis
The future of journalism, technological challenges, and advice to freelancers with Jeff Jarvis, American journalist and the Leonard Tow Professor of Journalism Innovation and director of the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism at the City University of New York’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism.
Jeff Jarvis is the author of Geeks Bearing Gifts: Imagining New Futures for News (CUNY Journalism Press, 2014), Public Parts: How Sharing in the Digital Age Improves the Way We Work and Live (Simon & Schuster, 2011), What Would Google Do? (HarperCollins 2009), and the Kindle Single Gutenberg the Geek. He blogs about media and news at BuzzMachine.com and co-hosts the podcast This Week in Google
Freelance Forum 71: Malachi O’Doherty on SLAPP
Malachi O’Doherty is a journalist, author and broadcaster in Northern Ireland.
He talks with Gerard Cunningham about Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) and the scene in Northern Ireland.
His most recent publications are Can Ireland Be One? (Merrion) and How To Fix Northern Ireland (Atlantic)
How to Fix Northern Ireland appears in paperback in May.
Check his books on Amazon.
Freelance Forum Podcast Series is available on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, and the podcatcher app of your choice
Freelance Forum 70: Coming To Ireland
Roba Aldereh spoke with Shamim Malekian, Nina Mishchenko, Razan Ibrahim, Heidar Al-Hashimi, and Carmelle Keane about the experiences and observations of non-Irish journalists who have come to study and work in Ireland.
