Please note that the suggested rates below are minima; that rates for copyright works are for limited licences; and that VAT is not included.
See notes on negotiating rates and
find a freelance.
Rates paid by regional, and particularly provincial and local, newspapers vary hugely. These suggestions are based on the decent rates that members have achieved.
Read me first! Regional newspapers advice
Uploaded: 2008-05-05; if you have a printout, check the current version at www.londonfreelance.org/feesguide/PrRegRat.html
Reported rates, to compare for Regional newspapers
The suggested rates
(know a better rate? tell us!)
NUJ members discuss rates etc for shifts in general
NUJ members discuss rates etc for writing | RATES:
Shifts Regional newspapers category: Regional daily newspapers | ||
|---|---|---|
| 6 or 7 hour sub-editing shifts (weekend) |  |
160 |
| 6 or 7 hour sub-editing shifts | |
120 |
| RATES:
Shifts Regional newspapers category: Weekly/local newspapers | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sub-editing shifts are one kind of work where many - but not all - local papers pay noticeable rates. | ||
| 6 or 7 hour sub-editing shifts | |
110 |
Notes:
- Freelances paid a day rate risk being taxed at source and paying National Insurance as an employed person, though this can be challenged - see Shift payments - tax and time off.
- Writing on a day rate may have implications for copyright. NUJ members should see Rights and why they are important and check with the Freelance Office.
| RATES:
Writing, reporting and researching Regional newspapers category: Regional daily newspapers | ||
|---|---|---|
| Ordered story or feature, bigger papers, per 1000 | |
150 |
| Ordered story or feature, per 1000 | |
120 |
| Page lead | |
70 |
| Lineage equivalent, first 100 words per 1000 | |
65 |
| Lineage equivalent, subsequent words per 1000 | |
50 |
| Tip | |
20 |
| RATES:
Writing, reporting and researching Regional newspapers category: Weekly/local newspapers | ||
|---|---|---|
| Ordered news or feature, per 1000 | |
100 |
Notes:
- Some regional and provincial newspapers pay such low rates that the NUJ cannot actually recommend that such work is undertaken, unless the writer needs to make a name for him/herself locally.
- We would particularly like to name and shame the Barnsley Chronicle (apparently independent); the Chichester Observer and other Johnston Press papers in England; and the Birmingham Post and other Trinity Mirror regionals.
See: National newspapers
Commissioning_editorGenerally useful links:
![[www.londonfreelance.org]](gif/nujsma.gif)
Rates for the Job good, bad and ugly
www.londonfreelance.org much more information...
Join the NUJ to get individual advice & representation
Uploaded: 05 May 2008; text © Mike Holderness & Andrew Wiard;
Moral rights asserted. Comments to ffg@londonfreelance.org please.
You may find the glossary helpful.
The National Union of Journalists must not, can not and would not wish to dictate rates or terms of engagement to members or to editors. The information presented here is for guidance and as an aid to equitable negotiation only.
Suggestions apply to contracts governed by UK law only. In any event, nothing here should be construed as legal advice.
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