The State of Freelance Journalism Report 2024, produced by Sheffield Hallam University and Freelancing for Journalists, is based on a survey of 401 UK freelance journalists plus interviews with commissioning editors across print, digital, audio and broadcast conducted in late 2024/early 2025.
It paints a picture of a profession that is financially fragile but creatively thriving, with most freelancers determined to stay despite low and volatile rates.
At the bottom end of the market, 50% of respondents had been offered less than 10p per word and 85% had seen offers at 20p or below. At the top end, 55% reported a highest rate of at least 50p per word and one in four had secured £1 or more per word, exposing a wide gulf between floor and ceiling. Almost two thirds (64%) had turned down work because the pay was too poor, yet only a quarter said they often or always negotiate.
Despite this, commitment to freelancing remains strong. Some 79% intend to keep working as freelance journalists, including 71% who said “Yes – I love it”.
When asked what matters most, 59% chose flexibility as their top priority, compared with just 18% who chose earning potential.
Lead researcher Dr Lily Canter, senior lecturer in Journalism at Sheffield Hallam University, said: “This report shows that freelance journalism is viable as a calling but fragile as a business. Editors rely on freelancers more than ever, yet half of our respondents have been offered less than 10p a word – rates that can slip below minimum wage once you factor in reporting time. If we want a diverse, independent media, we have to stop treating freelancers as a flexible cost and start treating them as essential workers in the newsroom economy.”
“The good news is that freelancers are incredibly committed. They value flexibility, autonomy and the ability to serve under-represented communities. With fairer rates, faster payments and better training on pitching and negotiation, this workforce could be both sustainable and thriving rather than surviving.”
Pay and rates
Typical total income from all sources clusters between £20,000 and £40,000 a year, but 15% earn less than £5,000.
Motivation and satisfaction
79% plan to continue freelancing; 71% say they love it.
Flexibility is the “lodestar”: 59% rank it as their top priority, far ahead of earning potential (18%) and editorial control (15%).
Who freelancers are
The workforce is majority female (75%) and majority white (83%), but more diverse than staff newsrooms: 17% identify as non-white, 22% as LGBTQ+ and 19% report a physical or mental impairment.
68% live outside London, challenging the idea that freelance careers are only viable in the capital.
Training and education gap
Only 6% of respondents felt their journalism training adequately covered freelancing; 45% said it did not, and 29% had no journalism training at all.
Editors interviewed for the report repeatedly cited weak pitching skills, lack of business knowledge and confusion over contracts as key obstacles, even among otherwise strong writers.
