Take Care of Yourself Today
Last Call to Join Friday’s Layoff-Focused Webinar!
Today is a stressful one.
Whether you’re writing today’s election news or reading along, the anticipation of what is to come is bringing up a lot of feelings for a lot of people – us included!
On days like these, it’s important to have a mental health game plan in place. Here are three questions to help shape yours:
What activities help you feel supported, calm, and safe?
Who are your support people you can check in with and lean on?
Is there an action you can take to make someone else’s day better?
Everyone’s mental health toolkit looks different, so take time to answer these questions for yourself. Some things I’ll be leaning into today: taking a walk, making dinner with friends, cuddling my pets, drinking water, limiting time on social media, stretching, and watching my comfort movie Clue.
Whatever helps you feel grounded, make it a priority. Whichever way the election goes, we will still be here in community to support one another – both as freelancers and more importantly, as humans.
Thinking of you,
Carly Lanning
IIJ Marketing & Communication Consultant
Find Layoff Support in Our Upcoming Friday, Nov. 8 Webinar
Layoffs have deeply impacted our industry. Being able to talk about the personal and professional toll of being laid off is an important step in helping us find pathways forward.
On Friday, Nov. 8 at 12 p.m. ET, join our incredible lineup of speakers – IIJ founder Katherine Reynolds Lewis, the Field Foundation of Illinois’ Maudlyne Ihejirika, and journalists Yowei Shaw and Janice Llamoca – to discuss post-layoff strategies to get you back on your feet. Hosted in partnership with AIR on the SoundPath platform, this session will feature tangible advice on how to move forward, ways to support impacted colleagues, and a deeper dig into our recent layoff survey, a project made possible by the incredible support of the Field Foundation.
Tickets to this webinar are free but limited – RSVP for this important conversation now!
Got Thoughts on Future IIJ Programming? We Want to Hear Them!
Planning for our 2025 webinars and February conference has officially begun. As we put together what’s next, we could use your big, beautiful brains!
Each year for our IIJ conference, we aim to host diverse, innovative panels featuring editors, storytellers, and more! All panels are focused on providing tools and advice to freelance journalists, with previous topics including pursuing photojournalism, how to pitch editors, and creating book proposals.
Got an idea for a conference panel? Share it here!
We’re also looking for people to join our growing advisory committees! These include programming, revenue building, podcasting, and recruitment. If you’d like to learn more, please reach out to Katie Spillman (office@theiij.com) or Sa'iyda Shabazz (seesaiwrite@gmail.com) to join an upcoming meeting!
Pitches & Opportunities
🗣️ Tell the Stories of Your Community With Funding From the Storyteller Initiative!
Voices of Witness is on a mission to expand the types of stories being told. Storytellers, artists, and oral historians can apply to their Storyteller Initiative with projects centered around telling the stories of their communities – particularly the LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and other marginalized groups. 💰Grant: $10,000 per year for up to two years. Turn in your applications by Dec. 1. The program begins March 3, 2025. Apply now!
📹 Apply for a Video News Production Fellowship with Democracy Now!
Passionate about reporting news? Get your application in now for Democracy Now’s video production fellowship! This fellowship is a full-time, one-year placement that provides support and mentorship to underrepresented early-career journalists and media professionals. 💰Salary: $64,900. Applications are due Nov. 11 with full details available here.
🎨 Pitch Your “Retreat”-Themed Ideas to American Craft by Nov. 11
American Craft is looking for pitches of reported articles, essays, and opinion pieces on the theme of "Retreat” for their Summer 2025 magazine. All pitches should keep in mind the magazine’s audience: people who value the handcrafted over the manufactured, artists, collectors, and independent thinkers with a keen interest in the creative process. 💰Rate: 50 cents –$1.00/word, depending on the assignment. Stories range between 400–2,000 words. Full submission guidelines and the magazine’s pitch form are available here. Deadline is Nov. 11.
🔬 Let The Good Science Project Support Your Next Long-form Science Feature!
This John Hopkins-sponsored fellowship aims to improve science journalism by providing grants of $5,000 for magazine feature ideas about the funding and practice of science in the U.S. This opportunity is open to freelance journalists, with applications including a 1,000 story pitch, writing samples, and contact information. Send a PDF of your application by Nov. 15, 2024 to goodscience@jh.edu. Full fellowship details available here.
🏫 Apply to be a Visiting Professor of Journalism at Columbia University
This two-year teaching position is for an experienced journalist interested in teaching students about the changing media landscape. This role involves student mentorship and teaching across a variety of topics including video journalism, investigative reporting, and data analysis. Candidates must have an extensive writing and editing career and currently hold an appointment at another academic institution. 💰Salary: $100k - 120k. Applications require a cover letter and curricula vitae, with previous work examples welcome as additional materials. Apply now!
🗺️ Pitch Your ‘Quiet Travel’ Stories to Afar Magazine by Nov. 13!
Features editor Katherine LaGrave is looking for essay pitches all about “quiet travel.” These stories should be rooted around the themes of unplugging, recharging, and resetting, with pitching guidelines available here. 💰Rates: 50 cents per word. Send all pitches to klagrave@afar.com by Nov. 13.
🍎 Apply to Chapman University’s Open Professor Position
Chapman University is currently looking for experienced journalists interested in applying to their open Instructional Assistant Professor in Journalism position. Previous teaching experience is desired, but not required to apply. This role will be responsible for teaching intro and advanced courses, mentoring students, and working alongside Orange County’s only nonprofit daily news site, Voice of OC. 💰 Rate: $75,000 - $85,000 a year. Apply now!
Interesting Reads
📖 Journalist Anne Helen Petersen digs in on the conversations still swirling from New York Magazine’s “Power Issue,” which featured interviews with 57 Big Media Names about the state of the media industry. Known for her writing on workplace burnout, Peterson provides needed context on why each generation points blaming fingers to the next and where we as an industry go from here: “To understand just how broken media is, look at who leaves the field — or who dares not pursue it. Because this much I know is true: it’s not because they’re soft. So how do we break this cycle?”
📖 For too long, broadcast journalists have been expected to present, speak, and relate to audiences in a specific type of way – often dictated by the assumptions of newsroom managers. Dr. Elia Powers investigates how this has limited our industry and the ways its impacted the people we aim to serve. “Research shows that exposure to different types of voices and appearance attributes can help reduce bias and stigma. News outlets can help normalize diverse forms of self-presentation and attract audiences who have previously felt unrepresented. [...] Progress is slow, but the imagined audience may finally be expanding.”
📖 The first Chicago Manual of Style was sold for 50 cents at the World Series. Today, it’s five times the original size. With the recent publishing of its 18th edition, the manual is trying to navigate the changing media landscape along with the rest of us, and address issues such as accessibility, pronoun usage, and racial identity. “The truth is so often paywalled while the lies are free, the 18th edition’s fuller section on copyright is thrilling, containing as it does discussions of, and recipes for using, open access.”
Calendar
🗓️ 🚨TODAY! 🚨 Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 4 p.m. ET: Let’s talk about time management and project scope! Learn advanced strategies for keeping yourself on track and on deadline in the second session of our Level 2 Business of Freelancing Course. Drop-in registration is open here! Look for a sign-up after you register, so you get the date you want.
🗓️ 🚨THIS WEEK! 🚨 Friday, Nov. 8 at 12 p.m. ET: The Impact of Layoffs and How to Weather Them. IIJ founder Katherine Reynolds Lewis will discuss the findings of our survey of laid-off journalists with the Field Foundation’s Maudlyne Ihejirika, and layoff survivors will share strategies for weathering the storm. Featuring Yowei Shaw, host of the podcast Proxy and former host of NPR’s Invisibilia, and Janice Llamoca, host of the podcast Party Crews: The Untold Story. This webinar is a hosted partnership with AIR and will take place on the SoundPath platform. RSVP now.
🗓️Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 4 p.m. ET: Pitching and Client Relationships. In the third session of our Level 2 Business of Freelancing Course, learn techniques for ensuring your pitches land! Drop-in registration now available!
🗓️Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 6:30 p.m. ET: Focus on Journalism Layoffs. IIJ founder Katherine Reynolds Lewis will lead an in-person panel discussion with Deborah D. Douglas, Director of Medill’s Midwest Solutions Journalism Hub, and Meredith D. Clark, Associate Professor at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, to discuss the impact of industry layoffs.
🗓️Tuesday, Dec. at 4 p.m. ET: Increasing Revenue. The fourth session of our Level 2 Business of Freelancing Course. Learn how to fine-tune your rates radar and cultivate next-level negotiation skills. Sign up now! Look for an email after you register, so you get the date you want.
🗓️Friday, Dec. 13 at 12 p.m. ET: Finding Journalism-adjacent Freelance Work. During our last webinar of the year, learn more about finding freelance-adjacent journalism work in marketing and communications. Panelists will discuss how to find clients and handle yourself ethically. Limited tickets are available, so grab yours now!