Start at the beginning: know yourself
My first assertion: before you take even one step towards a media outlet, you must be crystal clear about who you are and what you want. How large is your team? Where are the members based? How experienced are they and have they successfully published together before? Or is this a green team in investigative journalism, that barely knows anything about the subject to be investigated?
These questions are not optional. They fundamentally determine your negotiating position. With few miles on the clock, you can hardly make high demands. But that needn't be a problem - consider it an investment in your future. You gain new skills and use the publications as a calling card for future projects.
The first negotiations don't happen with the media outlet. They happen within your own team.
Facing financial reality
Here's where it gets painful. Large investigative teams are often assembled without anyone having thought through the financial consequences. Are all these people really necessary? Because each team member means extra costs. The team must therefore draw up a watertight budget that clearly estimates how much time everyone will invest. It is also crucial to make sure that everyone understands their commitment.
And then come the first real negotiations. Remuneration is inevitably linked to where you live. The cost of living and tax rates differ enormously between countries. Does someone in a country where it's cheap to live receive the same as someone who lives in a country where everything costs three times as much? I advise everyone to read "The proposal for Collective Bargaining system" by Ruona Meyer for a fair approach.
You must also make clear agreements about costs beforehand. Who will bear them? Who will pay upfront, before you get them reimbursed or receive honorarium from an outlet? This must be settled before you begin. With two or three people, it's still manageable. With ten journalists from ten different countries, the probability of a nightmare increases. Yet journalists readily join these large, hard-to-manage teams of freelancers and salaried staff that generate endless discussions.
Finding the money source
Where do you get the funds? A €10,000 investigation is easier to sell than a €20,000 one - obviously. But it remains virtually impossible to find one media outlet willing to pay for the entire cross-border investigation. That's why we founded Journalismfund Europe.
So you can apply for a grant, but often that doesn't work out. Then the actual cost must be divided amongst the media where you publish.
If you receive a grant, when and how do you distribute it? Does everyone immediately get a share? Or does one person manage everything and distribute after completion?
At Journalismfund Europe, we insist on the rule of transparency: we pay each freelancer directly. No intermediaries, no mutual dependency, no hassle with invoices. The grant for each team member is a grant they budgeted for, full stop.
Negotiating with media: no one-size-fits-all
Only now do we reach the crux: how do you negotiate with a media company for a fair price? There is no standard solution. It depends on numerous factors:
- Where does the investigation take place, and for which countries (and audiences) is it relevant?
- Does the investigation reveal something entirely new?
- Does it contain a local element?
- How great are the risks, legal, financial and physical?
- How complex is the investigation?
- How are security risks assessed and mitigated prior to field trips, are the editors aware of those risks?
- What's the output: a longread, podcast, photo series, documentary, or a combination?
- How experienced are the journalists and can they make a difference in outreach through their own social media accounts?
My advice: involve media from day one
Contact the media where you want to publish from the beginning of your investigation. This way they can observe and contribute ideas, and won't need to redo the investigation upon publication. Perhaps they'll even add someone to the team without extra costs?
The fee you are offered will ultimately depend on the type of media outlet, the outlet's reach and its revenue model. A non-profit outlet is not able to pay as much as a commercial publisher.
Conclusion
The message is clear: begin with internal negotiations before you talk externally. Know your team, know your costs, know your value. Only then can you sit at the negotiating table with confidence. Cross-border investigative journalism is complex enough. Don't make it unnecessarily more complicated by not having the basics in order.
It's time we as journalists handle the business side of our profession more professionally. Good journalism deserves a fair price. But you'll only get it if you know what you're asking for.
Ides Debruyne
Managing director Journalismfund Europe
On the right: Image by Jacob Blund /iStock by Getty images.
