It's Ok to Be Frustrated at the State of Media

Recent bylines, making it in NYC, and some resources for new freelancers.

Happy Monday Fellow Freelancers!

What I’ve Been Up To:

As someone who is trying to “make it” I’m always pitching and freelancing for different publications.

I reviewed Miss Bala (starring Gina Rodriguez) for The Cherry Picks. The movie was great, but I’m tired of seeing Latinos in stereotypical roles that make us out to be either criminals, or subservient. It’s a tired trope that I will never stop calling out in my writing.

It’s still Black History Month! So I put together a round up of various events around NYC for Coconuts (formerly Nooklyn Stories). They’re definitely worth checking out and some of the events are cheap, or even free.

As someone who was a stellar student and who has won awards for writing, I’m frustrated at how little that translates into a career. Going hard at grades doesn’t always mean you’ll find an amazing job right away, especially not when the industry you’re trying to get into focuses a lot on connections. That can keep out people from lower-income, less connected backgrounds. I think it keeps important perspectives from being reported on and it keeps up the status quo of helicopter/drop in reporting. So I wrote a post on Medium titled “I Was an Amazing Student– It Didn’t do Jack Shit for My Career”. Enjoy!

Writer Resources:

I recently highlighted how knowing how to edit audio made me thousands of dollars on the side last year. In a tough market, freelancers need to diversify their portfolios and try different things. My side gig is editing a podcast called Xoxo Riverdale. I’m paid $25/hr (which is how long it takes to edit an episode. I wrote about that, and a few other ideas apart from writing for freelance gigs on Medium.

Are you a new writer? Have you recently finished school? Here are some ideas, links, and instructions for finding a paid internship. It’s important to have some steady money coming in when learning how to freelance, it also makes for great connections with editors who may hire you to write for them in the future.