WSJ sets new freelance pay policy

William Power, a news editor for Journal Reports at The Wall Street Journal, sent out the following to freelancers on Wednesday:

Hi, I’m sending this out to frequent c0ntributors to the Investing in Funds & ETFs.  (Some of you might have this news already if you write for other editors here.)

The new Journal Reports policy is that for freelance reporters, we will pay $1 a word, rather than what had been usually a fixed fee. It will be based on the maximum words — in other words, what runs online, if the story has been trimmed for print. (Academics and newsletter writers will still get the old flat fee.)

The thinking is that overall, over time, reporters will be getting paid more, not less, because of this. I will monitor how it goes. I know the little Spotlights we run (currently at $250 each), are usually more than 250 words, so that will go up in pay. Many longer stories run 1,000 words and more online, so they’ll be getting $1,000 and more. A 700-word story now will get only $700, though. Again, I’ll monitor it, and please give me feedback …