UK freelance journalism income falls 66%, concentrates in London while AI poses new threats

Freelance journalists in the UK are earning 66% less than they did 15 years ago, with average annual earnings now at just £7,000, while facing new threats from generative AI that could further undermine their profession. A recent roundtable convened by the New Statesman and the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS), a UK organization that collects licensing fees for writers, explored how to create sustainable futures for freelance journalism amid these mounting economic pressures and technological disruptions.

The big picture: The journalism industry is experiencing a perfect storm of declining revenues, increased reliance on freelance labor, and emerging AI competition that threatens to further erode writers’ livelihoods.

• Publications increasingly engage freelancers because “it basically costs less” than employing full-time staff, while freelancers struggle without benefits like sick pay or job security.
• Young journalists face a “perpetual internship culture” that prevents career establishment, while experienced journalists rarely earn enough from journalism alone to make a living.
• Journalism has become increasingly centralized in London, depriving freelancers in other regions of opportunities.

What they’re saying: Industry participants emphasized the systemic challenges facing freelance journalists across all career stages.

• “Good luck if you’re a young person, or if you’re from a diverse community and are trying to break into these professions,” said one attendee. “Unless you’ve got independent wealth or connections, it’s very difficult.”
• “Our rates are not going up, but our costs are up, and [there is a] cost of living crisis, we are stuck, and that’s why we’re seeing so many people just reaching this crunch, where they’re taking that decision to leave the industry.”
• “If you’re an investigative freelance journalist, the infrastructure isn’t really there,” another participant noted about the financial challenges of long-term reporting projects.

The AI challenge: Freelance journalists face particular vulnerabilities as AI companies strike content licensing deals with major publishers while excluding individual creators.

• “There’s not a single publication that has been transparent about the deals that they have struck around AI and what they’re charging for their information in news to be used,” one attendee observed.
• Less than one percent of publishers have struck deals with AI companies to use their content, according to a tech industry representative at the roundtable.
• Current copyright protections leave freelancers with court action as their only recourse, which carries “huge financial risk” if unsuccessful.

Emerging solutions: Several initiatives are developing to help freelancers secure fair compensation from AI companies using their work.

• The ALCS and National Union of Journalists recently created SCOOP to offer collective agreements between freelance journalists and companies using their works for AI training and news scraping.
• Tech companies are developing AI data licensing marketplaces to match rights holders with AI companies seeking to license content.
• One tech representative explained: “What we are creating is an AI data licensing marketplace, matching rights holders with AI companies who wants to license that.”

Policy interventions needed: Attendees identified several regulatory approaches that could protect freelance journalists’ interests.

• Germany, Australia, and New Zealand have enacted laws enabling collective bargaining, while Europe leads on AI and digital content distribution protections.
• Proposed solutions include strengthening copyright laws, implementing taxes on technology companies to fund public service broadcasting, and requiring regulation to support collective bargaining between creators and tech companies.
• “We will struggle if we wait for specific regulation. I think we have to try voluntary measures, but I think we’re going to need regulatory backup,” one participant noted.

Why this matters: The decline of freelance journalism threatens media diversity and democratic discourse, particularly affecting underrepresented communities who rely more heavily on freelance opportunities to enter the industry.