Is there money in travel writing?
Jeremy Head has written a fascinating piece on the new travel technology news service, Tnooz.com. He goes through the fears that many travel writers are facing about the internet taking over from print. To put it in a nutshell, where will travel writers get their money from in the future?
Comments from Times Online Travel editor
Perhaps even more interesting are the comments underneath the piece from Times Online travel editor Steve Keenan. Steve openly concedes that he no longer has a budget to pay freelancers for content – something that is intriguingly at odds with his employer’s new philosophy that journalism has value and should be charged for.
Free content
Steve says he is getting extra content from guide book authors who want to cadge a free flight or hotel, or destination-based amateurs. He also claims that the current freelance travel journalism model is “a defunct model from the 20th century.”
Days of old-style travel journalism are gone
This quote particularly strikes hard: “Like the miners, the steelworkers, the hot metal machinists and potters, the days of freelance journalists earning £800 for writing up five-day trips to Chile as serious professional travel journalism are gone.”
It’s fair to say that a lot of travel writers are not going to like hearing this from a travel editor. But is he right?
Arrogance of travel journalists
Well, I suspect partly. There is an awful lot of arrogance in my profession – there’s a common air of “nobody could possibly write this as well as me – I’m a travel journalist.” It’s one I’ve never liked.
I thoroughly agree with Steve’s between-the-lines hint that newspaper travel sections are largely full of waffly, dull shite. Somewhat ironically, The Times is one of the worst offenders for the ‘what me and me charming kids did on holiday in our charming Greek villa’ school of travel writing.
Sustainable model?
Frankly, you don’t need any qualifications, society memberships or previous publishing credits to write a good guide or narrative travel piece. Whether relying on people working for free or other kickbacks is a sustainable model is another question – after all, there’s no use in the freebies if no-one’s paying anyone to write.
Internet as an opportunity
As for the internet, I still like to think of it as an opportunity rather than a profession-killer. Most of my earnings come from writing for the web – partly because I’m very good at coming up with hundreds of ideas for top ten lists.
Future of travel writing on the internet
But I’m not sure that this list-style writing is the future of the internet either. I’ve already discussed how travel guide book authors can apply their skills to making a profitable website, but I also believe we’re about to enter a major stage in the internet’s evolution. Paid-for content is on the way. No-one really knows whether paywalls, subscription charges or micro-payments will work, but it’s clear that news organisations can’t continue to just pump out everything they do for free.
Paid for sites need to do something different
No-one knows what’s going to happen, and no-one knows what effect this is going to have on the type of content that is on the web. My suspicion is that the free sites will have more of the same, while the paid-for sites will have to do something very different. There will have to be a reason to subscribe, or pay per article – and no-one’s going to do that for SEO-friendly lists.
A middle way
In an ocean of ranting, largely undiscerning user generated content mixed with bland PR puffery, something will have to give. There will need to be a middle way, and I suspect people will eventually be happy to pay for trustworthy guidance, informed opinion, strong editorial control and knowledgeable discernment. I’m not saying this isn’t available with user generated content, but that it is lost amongst the shouting.
Travel companies becoming publishers
I can also see travel companies such as airlines, hotels and tour operators further branching out into publishing on their websites. Some will see the value of good writing and strong information as a compliment to their brand, and will pay good money to have it alongside their booking engines. I’ve found Vtravelled.com interesting in this respect – it’s loosely linked to Virgin Atlantic, and the site has commissioned me to write almost old-fashioned narrative pieces on the likes of Montserrat and Dominica.
Future for travel journalism on the internet
Whether Vtravelled will succeed, I don’t know, but I suspect we’ll see more sites with the same ‘invest in good writing as a brand-enhancing niche’ attitude popping up. But I am – like everyone else on this subject – just guessing.
There certainly is a future for travel journalism on the internet. We just don’t know what it will be yet. A lot will depend on whether the general population does agree with Mr Murdoch (in the paywall sense, not the get travel content for free sense) that journalism has value.
Tags: media, online travel, paid content, The Times, Tnooz, travel media, Travel Writing, Vtravelled
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Nice post David… I agree with many of your conclusions. Fundamentally I believe that price is an important indicator of usefulness that we have now lost. So much of what’s online is free it’s now very difficult to know at a glance what’s good and what isn’t. People forget that. Personally I HATE free. See my previous post here:
http://www.travelblather.com/2.....rdoch.html
Hi David,
I agree with much of what you are saying, as well as the comment above – it is tough to know what is good material and what is not with everything being free. In addition, despite the fact that there’s so much free information out there, I’d say 90% of my clients still come to me and say “I bought the frommer’s (fodor’s, insight, whichever guide you choose) book for x country…” so they clearly are still willing to pay for what they consider good information/advice. I think that paying for good travel journalism would go like everything else in the industry – everyone complained about paying for meals on flights, checked luggage, etc but they are still doing it. I don’t even think about it anymore when I fly, I just add those into the trip costs. What’s better with paying for travel journalism is that you are actually paying for someone’s skill and hard work, as opposed to something like food on an 8-hour flight, which is pretty much a basic need! From the perspective of the writer, while I love to write/blog and share my knowledge with others, I can’t say I’d complain about being paid for it some day when I’ve established myself further!
PS to clarify, I’m not saying in the above post that Frommers, Fodors, etc are travel journalism! I am just saying that people are wiling to pay for travel content.
Hi David,
Really interesting post, as was Jeremy’s. From an editorial perspective, with http://www.vtravelled.com my argument is that when I pay a professional travel journalist a decent rate for a professional article, I am not just getting ‘content’. I am getting the exact thing that you talk about – “informed opinion” and “knowledgeable discernment”. In short, I am getting authority.
We are brand new, as you know, and therefore still heavily experimenting with the types of features that work best for us. But regardless of whether we’re talking about Top 10s/The Best Hotels in X or more narrative-style pieces, time and again I hear people say that they do not know where to turn for travel inspiration. So with vtravelled, we have taken a three-pronged approach to travel content. Firstly, we have an extremely extensive range of destination guides for which we use a third-party provider and we’ve always been very upfront about this. But we’ve always seen this as a layer of content that serves a specific purpose and that, over time, it will become less ‘important’ than both UGC and commissioned editorial.
Secondly, we believe passionately in the power and usefulness of UGC – but with a caveat. It *must* be relevant to you as a user, which is why we’re working very hard behind the scenes to further develop this functionality. Offering real, genuine relevance is an extremely complex challenge and the way we match travellers on the site at the moment is only the start of something that will eventually be far more sophisticated. In a brand new website such as ours, it takes time, effort and much nurturing for a new community to seed itself and grow, and true relevance can only really come into its own as a community begins to expand.
Finally of course, we commission people like you to write unique travel features for us. And this is where we see the bridge being gapped between licensed content and UGC; where we can really start to offer the kind of inspiration that people seem to be craving – from writers who really know what they’re talking about. Plus, the point you make, where I think you hit the nail squarely on the head, is that good writing and strong information will *always* be a compliment to your brand. Even more so if your brand has only just launched.
One final point I’d like to make is that those travel journalists who are also savvy social media experts, who perhaps have their own blog, a twitter page, a presence on various sharing sites, etc – are particularly well-placed to pitch at a website like ours. We understand that by commissioning writers such as these, we are not just getting authoritative writing, but we are also picking up PR, traffic, reputation, more registered users, goodwill and so on. Your Montserrat feature is our most highly-ranked article – so I rest my case.
Cheers,
Maxine
Editor – http://www.vtravelled.com
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/vtravelled
RE: Steve Keenan’s admission that http://www.timesonline.co.uk/travel doesn’t pay their writers. As I commented on Jeremy’s article, I think it’s hard to paint that as anything but stealing. If they offered an unpaid internship, where they at least trained the writer, then I could see it being fair. But it’s up to writers to know better and eventually if you write long enough you’ll learn that lesson. When someone offers you “exposure” it’s code for “I think you’re an idiot”.
BUT what I find more interesting is taking a look at the Times site. From two of the front page stories:
“Sexiest beach in Thailand” http://www.timesonline.co.uk/t.....786560.ece
There’s something almost indecent about Ao Kiew beach. The waves break with just enough roughness to be stimulating, foaming water spurts a few feet up the glistening wet sand, then ebbs away sensuously, giving the grains a last, delicate grope. No wonder Paradee, the only resort on this perfect bay, discourages children from staying. The place should be X-rated.
“Autumn Travel: the best food festivals”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/t.....855360.ece
Stilton and cider. Crayfish salad and bison burgers. Pork pie and chocolate pizza. Yum, yum, yummity yum. Summer is slipping into autumn, and ’tis the season to fill up on fantastic British nosh at a feast of food festivals up and down the country. They’re jam-packed with celebrity cooks, farm-fresh produce and tons of free tastings. Loosen your belts as we preview the meatiest.
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My question is if this type of writing– which is considered journalism, is actually in fact, journalism? Sounds like travel porn to me. Designed to titillate and intrigue– rather shamelessly.
Maybe the reason they can’t pay their authors, is that this model of writing doesn’t work online. Online the average reader is more savvy and has their BS detector way up.
Instead of marching forward, not paying writers, perhaps they should wonder if the reason why they are so unprofitable has something to do with the way they do business. Perhaps their entire editorial vision is a failure. I mean it’s a business. I’m not trying to be an ass, but if you can’t pay the bills, isn’t it time to start looking at HOW you are approaching the marketplace? Because there are travel sites that can pay their writers. Not print prices, but something. (I think Worldhum.com pays $100+ per piece.)
Two years go by and they continue getting free content and they have the leverage of the Times brand and all that SEO goodness of being on that popular domain and they can’t make the travel section pay for itself. It’s just bad writing. It’s the only reason.
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Interesting post, David. One of the things that amuses me is the way that editors who don’t pay talk about the value of getting “exposure.” Exposure for what?
I suppose exposure that will help them get paid work – and leave the non paying sites behind.
Well said, Maxine Sheppard. I think that’s the first time I’ve heard an editor note the benefits of the connected journalist:
Well said, Maxine Sheppard. I think that’s the first time I’ve heard an editor note the benefits of the connected journalist:
Twitter: @fionacullinan