A tech journalist's unexpected path to freelance

Editor's note: This is part of a series of stories about the recession's effect on the tech industry.

Robert Mullins, who covered servers and software for 10 years, competes with bloggers who have less experience but will work for less money.

(Credit: Robert Mullins)

News gathering and job hunting during a down economy aren't unalike, says longtime technology industry reporter Robert Mullins. They both require spending inordinate amounts of time trying to get people on the phone, trolling the Web for leads and swallowing lots and lots of rejection.

For most of the past decade, Mullins covered Silicon Valley, writing about servers and open-source software at publications like Software Development Times and NetworkWorld. Like most seasoned reporters covering the tech sector, it meant always working with a safety net; 401k, health insurance, and steady pay.

Mullins is on his own now. A staff reduction in August at the publication he worked for has meant that the 53-year-old still covers servers and software, but now gets paid by the story. Mullins has been forced to work as a freelancer. Say goodbye to the salary and the 401k, and he pays for his own health insurance. After working 30 years as a reporter, Mullins and other journalists like him find themselves caught between tectonic shifts occurring in the economy and tech journalism.

In a sagging economy, one of the first cuts U.S. companies make is to their advertising budgets. Anybody who has ever worked in media knows that when ad money dries up at newspapers or trade publications, pink slips start to fly. And now heap on more bad news: at the same time traditional print publications face an ad-revenue downturn they also are seeing unprecedented competition.

While blogs and tech publications such as Gawker Media and Wired.com have also laid off employees, Web-only publications continue to snatch away readers and ad dollars from traditional outlets. Many blogs keep costs down by filling their staffs with younger writers. The new generation of reporters, who probably would prefer the term bloggers, may lack reporting experience, but often have extensive hands-on experience with the subjects they cover. They also seem well equipped to handle some of the new job demands in tech journalism, such as filing video stories and podcasts and writing shorter but larger numbers of stories.

In this climate, some old-school journalists struggle to fit in.

"I was up for a job...and I was considered a strong candidate," Mullins said. "But later I found out they hired an entry-level employee. Of course entry level means you don't have to pay them a lot...I've been doing this for a while and there are younger people out there that will work for less and who are quick learners and have a lot of energy. They also don't have the same salary demands as more experienced reporters. They get some of the positions that I might have otherwise qualified for."

A Web-only world
It's not hard to find examples of how the Web and blogging have changed traditional journalism. Most of the country's major daily newspapers have asked reporters to blog at the same time they write for their print editions. InfoWorld, a stalwart tech magazine for three decades, dropped its paper edition and went Web-only last April.

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The century-old Christian Science Monitor also scrapped printing newspapers on a daily basis. Starting in April next year, the Monitor will publish on its Web site and offer weekly print and e-mail editions.

But attempts by print publishers to cash in on the Web have met with mixed results. Print publishers are losing advertising revenue faster than they can make the losses up with Web ads. To reduce costs, print publications have borrowed ideas from Web-only competitors and tried to remake themselves into speedier, sassier news shops.

"The rise of the blog economy is replacing traditional coverage by reporters who ask questions and investigate things," Mullins said. "While some of the legacy print publications are also trying to do some investing in things like blogs, and video and using surveys to interact with audience, some of their more ambitious plans I think are going to take a while before becoming stable."

Well, there's plenty of freelance work
After getting over the shock of his own layoff, Mullins realized he was fortunate in some ways. First, there's plenty of freelancing work available. "The good thing is that there are all sorts of freelance opportunities out there because of the number of technology blogs or business blogs that pay reporters by a per-story basis," Mullins said. "But whether there's enough to replace a full-time salary is another thing. You just keep knocking on doors."

One part of Mullins' day is spent pitching story ideas to editors and writing; making sure money continues to come in. The other part is spent sending out resumes, calling contacts to see if they've heard about job openings or tracking down editors about giving him work. With a mortgage to pay on his Santa Clara, Calif., condominium, Mullins jokes that he's learning to mix Starbucks coffees as a "just in case."

The arduous process can sometimes get him down. "It can be frustrating and depressing to be sending e-mails and getting nothing back," Mullins said. "I have friends who help encourage me."

As for the future of tech journalism, Mullins is confident that the public will always crave news.

"The tech industry is still so vibrant and constantly changing," Mullins said. "There is always going to be a need for someone to report the news. If the publishers can figure out the economics, there might be some good prospects."

Next in the series: Finding hope in the iPhone App Store

[Penguinisto]

Seriously? Maybe its time for the guy to get out there and, you know, work on servers and open-source software. Get his hands dirty.

Not saying his is an example (never read his articles), but a professional journalist covering FOSS who cannot tell the diff between an int and a long is going to be less credible than one of those 'amateur bloggers' who came out of the coding trenches to write articles instead of code.

Sure, there's always a need for the big-picture type of folks, but give me a good read by someone who has had to debug a bad callback. Give me a blog or article by someone who has had to deal with the occasional brainless system architect who, say, thinks nothing of modifying malloc() to lie to the kernel instead of solving an ugly memory leak (no, seriously - I knew an idiot like that).

If you want to write about tech, then maybe its time to roll up your sleeves and, you know, figure out first-hand the plagues and joys that folks you cover are dealing with. If you've got the experience, then great - perfect opportunity to refresh your skillset. If you never had to get your hands dirty? Well, maybe it's time you did...

/P

[sandonet]

Penguinisto,

You're right. In this day in age, journalists must learn everything they can about their beats so they can offer as much insight as possible. But I I covered the NBA and I covered city government in Santa Clarita and cops in the Antelope Valley. Does this mean I have to know the crossover dribble as well as Allen Iverson or do I need experience in drawing up city ordinances or making an arrest? If you're interested in just getting tips from insiders or features on do-it-yourself stuff then you're fine. But if you're interested in news then you need people who know how to earn people's trust, develop sources, learning how to anticipate where a story is going and then can write in a clear, interesting way as well as do it faster than the competition. Anyway, I hope you guys still want the news.

[Penguinisto]

Depends, really. I understand the need to get the indider POV, and I certainly understand the need to clear, concise writing. OTOH, the journalist (like it or not) help form opinions, and claiming a rather narrow slice (two aspects of one industry) tends to put the word 'expert' on the writer - a title that may or may not be deserved. Our article's subject seems to be more like the sportswriter than a beat reporter though, no? I don't expect a beat journalist to have deep insight or knowledge of the subjects, since they more often than not cover what happened on the surface, from which I the reader can gather my own insights from. OTOH, I expect a sportswriter covering, say, basketball, to know the game deeply enough to give me insights into a game or draft pick that I might not have thought of.

I don't expect a whitepaper, but I have a far higher appreciation for someone who knows the subjects well that he or she covers (e.g. WSJ's Walt Mossberg) than someone who does not, or worse, someone who is easily blinded by hype, doesn't know the subject all too well, but plows on anyway (see also the likes of Rob Enderle).

It's pretty hard to express the idea I'm chewing on here, but I hope I expressed it well enough. :)

[Vurk]

Well, I can tell you've never had to shift jobs like Mr. Mullins has. Because a)if you had, you'd be more sympathetic and less Republican and b)yours is exactly the mindset that the story was talking about: "you're old and theyre young. they obviously know more than you do, AND they'll work for dog food" (allowing Mr. Manager to get a bigger bonus).

[Penguinisto]

I went from Electronics engineering to IT nearly 15 years ago, from working in the server room to academia in 1999, and back in 2005. I've had to do it the hard way. It is precisely because of such shifts that I can say with confidence that maybe that's what he should be doing.

[cparente]

Good article, and very representative of what I've seen as a tech PR guy. Many bloggers are excellent, but less experienced writers and a demand for lots of clicks changes the kind of stories written. A long time reporter told me last year how she's really feeling the squeeze, since often very opinionated pieces will get more clicks than balanced, well researched ones.

[test_tester7]

this is a good point

[patmack1]

I'm 77. I was a junior reporter (the lowest form of journalistic life) 50-odd years ago. Since then, I've gone through the mill (from reporting, photography, P.R., editing, publishing and magazine ownership). The lot.

Now, the economy forces me to seek freelance work. But, things publishing have changed beyond my recognition. Digital no longer refers to fingers. Photography no longer requires film and prints. Writing no longer requires a brain. Lord, help us!

Anybody out there needs a, cheap, real live jjournalist/editor? Get hold of [e-mail].

[flitcraft33]

I don't know about the rest of you, but this stuff scares the heck out of me.

[corbey50]

Unfortunately, hi-tech is also starting to lay off people. In this economy, your personal ability and contribution to the company often don't matter. If you're working in a division that's not making money, you could be out the door. Just ask the 12,000 employees in AT&T's switching divisions or the thousands losing their jobs at EDS.

[bjdooley]

Nothing wrong with freelancing. Part of the big picture in technology is the continuing development of the virtual contract workforce. For the canny operator, there are opportunities around the globe. Finding a good niche is important, and it will not always include blogging. PR stories and white papers, for example, are enormous users of tech reporting talent. I have been doing this for more than 10 years, writing for companies in the US, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Japan, and New Zealand. This is the way of the future, and it can be quite profitable---not to mention liberating!

[bjdooley]

Nothing wrong with freelancing. Part of the big picture in technology is the continuing development of the virtual contract workforce. For the canny operator, there are opportunities around the globe. Finding a good niche is important, and it will not always include blogging. PR stories and white papers, for example, are enormous users of tech reporting talent. I have been doing this for more than 10 years, writing for companies in the US, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Japan, and New Zealand. This is the way of the future, and it can be quite profitable---not to mention liberating!

[test_tester7]

good insight to what journalist do

[farker1]

"trolling the Web for leads"

Trolling? Unless you mean the job of the journalist is to bait people, you mean trawling. The first duty of a journalist is to use words correctly.