<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> Journalist empowerment or journalist depowerment? Both tendencies are increasing in the new global communication market. News competition is most obvious among extreme risk taking journalists. The more risky the task, the fewer competitors and the easier a winnertakes- it-all-position is obtained. In this article commercial aspects of freelance journalism as both a drawback and a necessary condition for this development is explored. Competence in fields of great demand, skills in cross media work and strategies for personal branding are fundamental for professionals taking part in the race. Dilemmas with free lance journalism are approached and discussed through a case study of the private enterprise of freelance war reporter Åsne Seierstad. At the age of 33, Seierstad has never had a permanent employment in her life, yet she has become an attractive journalistic brand both nationally and internationally.</p></abstract>

Journalist empowerment or journalist depowerment? Both tendencies are increasing in the new global communication market. News competition is most obvious among extreme risk taking journalists. The more risky the task, the fewer competitors and the easier a winnertakes- it-all-position is obtained. In this article commercial aspects of freelance journalism as both a drawback and a necessary condition for this development is explored. Competence in fields of great demand, skills in cross media work and strategies for personal branding are fundamental for professionals taking part in the race. Dilemmas with free lance journalism are approached and discussed through a case study of the private enterprise of freelance war reporter Åsne Seierstad. At the age of 33, Seierstad has never had a permanent employment in her life, yet she has become an attractive journalistic brand both nationally and internationally.

Winner Takes It All

Ph.D. Student, Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen, PO Box 7800, N-5020 Bergen,

Nordicom Review

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Freelance Journalism on the Global Communication Market

Journalist empowerment or journalist depowerment? Both tendencies are increasing in the new global communication market. News competition is most obvious among...

Winner Takes It All

Publié en ligne: 14 févr. 2017

Pages: 111 - 120

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/nor-2017-0250

Mots clés
freelance journalism, global communication market, cross medial journalism, one man enterprises, risk taking, loyalty, personal branding

© by Astrid Gynnild

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Winner Takes It All

Publié en ligne: 14 févr. 2017

Pages: 111 - 120

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/nor-2017-0250

Mots clésfreelance journalism, global communication market, cross medial journalism, one man enterprises, risk taking, loyalty, personal branding

© by Astrid Gynnild

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Mots clés
freelance journalism, global communication market, cross medial journalism, one man enterprises, risk taking, loyalty, personal branding