My question is, when you have pitched a story that requires for you to fly somewhere, does the publication pay for that or is that your cost to pay? Could you explain that process to me?
I have to admit, I was very surprised by this question when I first heard it years ago. Still, I’ve been receiving variations of it for years now, so I think it’s time I answered it.
The simple answer is yes, the publication should pay for the flights, the hotels, even the meals, and each time I travel, the expenses are taken care of by my editors. I won’t travel without expenses, since the only reason I’m incurring them is because I’m doing a story for the newspaper or magazine. Look at it solely from a work perspective. If your company was sending you to say, New York, for a meeting or a conference, they’d be paying for it, right? Well, it’s the same for writers and journalists. I wouldn’t dream of going off on my own dime if I were on assignment for any publication.
In fact, even if you’re in your own city, the publication should ideally be paying for transportation, phone expenses and meals. All photographers I know ask for this; I don’t understand why most writers don’t.
That said, as writers, as journalists, we do have personal projects, and I will most definitely travel for those projects on my own. If it’s an issue I care about, if I don’t yet have an assignment from anyone, if I’m going without a contract, I’ll definitely pay my own way. The good thing about this is that when I do come back and sell the story, several times, my editors offer to pay back expenses for them. So that’s not completely out of the question either and I do make sure I’ve earned my daily income (excluding travel expenses).
Now, with all that out of the way, a word of warning: If you’re new to the craft, haven’t worked with any major publication before and don’t have too many credits, there is no reason for an editor to trust you enough to pay for your travel.
When I first started traveling for work about four years ago, the travel expenses for the first assignment I did (a one-year follow-up on the tsunami) came right out of my pocket. I did that story for experience, for an understanding of how to go about travel, and for the clip. (Plus, I really really wanted to go and had planned to, with or without an assignment). With the money I made from that piece, I broke even with the travel expenses, which means that I didn’t really get paid for the effort of reporting and writing. This was fine for me at that point in my career because it gave me experience and it taught me how to do things right. It’s a bit like writing for free– you do it once for the experience, the clip and the credential, and then you move on. I have never once traveled for any publication on my own dime again.
The good news is that any decent publication is going to take for granted that they have to pay for your travel, and it’s not something you have to negotiate for. There are certain publications that can’t afford to pay for their correspondents’ travel, and I only do Delhi-based stories for those clients. But if it’s something they’re sending you out on, ask about the travel. They’ll probably be booking and arranging it themselves.
Happy journeys!