Freelance Forum Autumn 2021 is here!
Aimed at writers, photographers and PR practitioners, and hoping to cover print, broadcast and online media, Freelance Forum is organised by Dublin Freelance NUJ branch with support from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.
In 2021, as the Forum adapted to Covid restrictions, a combination of podcast interviews and live webinars took place, with Spring and Autumn seasons. Webinars allowed for audience interaction, with Question & Answer sessions. As in 2021, some of the podcasts were uploaded and can be accessed using any podcast client, or directly from Soundcloud.
A total of three Live Autumn Webinars were planned, along with several pre-recorded podcast interviews, which were also be uploaded during the Autumn of 2021. The first podcast of 2021, covering the Sound+Vision programme, was uploaded on 1 February. Further podcasts were added during March and April. The Autumn series of podcasts will began in late September and ran parallel to the Autumn webinars. You can listen to the recordings below, or using the podcatcher of your choice.
Autumn Series 2021 Freelance Forum Webinars and Podcasts
Freelance Forum Episode 27: September 27, Press Ombudsman Peter Feeney talks about the work of the Press Council in resolving complaints, and the challenges for newspapers dealing with publication and corrections in the digital era.
Freelance Forum Episode 28: October 11, Tom Lyons talks about new online startup The Currency, what they’re looking for from freelance pitches, and the challenges of starting a new business during the Covid pandemic.
Freelance Forum Episode 29: October 18, Pitching to Editors. Carissa Casey, deputy editor of Woman’s Way, and Luke Dunne from Film in Dublin, publisher of Pretty Deadly Films (PDF) talk about what they are looking for in pitches from freelance writers.
Freelance Forum Episode 30: October 25, Budget and Broadcasting. Financial journalist Sinead Ryan talks about Budget 2022 and its impact for freelancers and other self-employed people, and writer/producer Martin Devaney talks about moving into writing and pitching for broadcasting.
Freelance Forum Episode 31: Freelance journalist Stephen Bourke talks to broadcaster and recent TU Dublin graduate Aoife Kearns, a journalist with WLR, and Nathan Young, a student journalist and editor of the University Observer in UCD about setting out on a career in journalism in 2021.
Freelance Forum Episode 32: This podcast is an edited recording of a live Webinar which took place on 1 November 2021
NUJ General Secretary Michelle Stanistreet, Deputy Editor of the Tuam Herald Siobhan Holliman, Irish Times Media Correspondent Laura Slattery, and freelance journalist Claire Grady discuss the Future of Media and Freelance Journalism after Covid.
Michelle Stanistreet worked as a journalist for ten years at the Sunday Express newspaper as feature writer and books editor. She was the first woman Deputy General Secretary, elected in 2008, and became the first woman in the NUJ’s history to be elected as General Secretary in April 2011. Last year she gave evidence to the The House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee inquiry into the future of journalism.
Siobhan Holliman is the deputy editor of the Tuam Herald, the chair of the NUJ Irish Executive Committee, and served as a member of the Future of Media Commission set up by the Irish Government in September 2020.
Laura Slattery is a journalist for The Irish Times in Dublin. She covers the media industry, marketing and other business and economic topics for the title and has written a weekly Media & Marketing column since 2011. She occasionally podcasts on business and books and started her career in 2001 writing personal finance features for the newspaper.
Moderating the third Autumn Webinar was Claire Grady, a journalist who has worked as a reporter, assistant news editor, commissioning editor, opinion editor, executive editor and national newspaper editor (Evening Herald, Irish Independent) during her career.
Freelance Forum Episode 33: Screenwriting in the UK with James Doherty.
This podcast is an edited recording of a live Webinar which took place on 4 October 2021.
James Doherty is a former president of the National Union of Journalists and former chair of the NUJ in Scotland, he continues to be a member of the union’s National Executive.
He started writing for Brookside when he was 21, going on to write as a scriptwriter with the BBC between 1995 and 2009, while also working as a journalist.
Freelance Forum Episode 34: Going corporate: how to approach editorial work for companies, governments and NGOs with SA Mathieson
This podcast is an edited recording of a live Webinar which took place on Monday 18 October 2021
SA Mathison has worked as a full-time freelance journalist and editor for a total of 14 years, focusing on IT, healthcare, government and data for both publications and corporate clients. He lectures on data journalism at Birkbeck, University of London and runs training on working as a freelancer for the NUJ.
- Freelance Forum will return in Spring 2022.
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Don’t forget to check out the archives of recordings from previous seasons and events.
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