Taking the plunge…

Posted in Adam, Freelance, Journalism by Adam Westbrook on September 11, 2009

I’ve been writing about it for weeks, thinking about it for months: and now I am very happy to announce at the end of September I will be going freelance.

Yes that’s right I’m jumping: I’ve quit a great, steady job….in the middle of a recession.

Madness you might say.

But while commentators everywhere see decline, cutbacks, redundancies, dropping standards and the end of journalism as we know it Jim…I see opportunity. Everywhere.

And it’s opportunity to be grasped with both hands.

I’ve written plenty about what I think the journalist of the future will be like, and what skills they’ll need: now I’m on a mission to find out if I’m right. I’m moving back down to London, where I’ll hopefully be contributing to a range of outlets in a range of media.

So there’ll be some changes round here in the next week or so, as I get my branding & portfolio sorted out.

In the meantime there’s a job going in arguably one of the best independent radio newsrooms around.

Image: Max Haibane

Tagged with: Adam Westbrook, Freelance, Freelance Journalist, Going Freelance, Multmedia Journalist, Opportunity, recession

9 comments

9 Responses

Subscribe to comments with RSS.

ciara leeming said, on September 11, 2009 at 8:59 am

GOOD LUCK Adam. freelancing is great – you’ll love it – but there’s no doubt that it’s getting tougher at the moment…I miss the regular money, the paid holidays and not being ignored by commissioning editors. but i wouldn’t go back to being a staffer for anything.
Dan Wilson Craw said, on September 11, 2009 at 12:13 pm

Good to see you this week – all the best with the plunge.
Jena Olson (Vantage Photography) said, on September 11, 2009 at 4:57 pm

I hope this doesn’t mean we won’t be seeing less posts from you! 🙂 Your blogs have been a huge help and inspiration….Best of luck, Adam.
Tracy Boyer said, on September 12, 2009 at 1:01 am

Congrats on making the big decision! Photographer Brent Foster also made the same decision and left a job at LA Times to freelance in India. He is now working with Bombay Flying Club and doing extremely well, so I hope the same is true for you!
adamwestbrook said, on September 12, 2009 at 8:00 am

Thanks for all the kind words guys! I’m hoping it’ll turn out well – and Jena, it should mean there’ll be more posts on here 🙂
Ben said, on September 16, 2009 at 11:06 am

where will you be basing your fine self?
Jon Moss said, on October 3, 2009 at 8:48 pm

A very late well done and congrats Adam 🙂

Good to speak to you in the week and see you at hdlive!
A year of freelancing & the benefits of a portfolio career « Adam Westbrook said, on October 19, 2010 at 2:17 pm

[…] month marks exactly one year since I quit my full-time job in radio, moved down to the big city to make a break of it. In an attempt to measure success & failure, […]
Goodbye mainstream media. It’s been fun. « Adam Westbrook said, on December 14, 2010 at 3:46 pm

[…] described before on this blog how I quit my job in the mainstream media back in September 2009. At the time I was working for a well-established, popular and profitable […]