English
Choosing to be a freelance journalist is choosing a career in the chaotic. Freelance journalists have the word 'deadline' looming over them from day one, and it comes from different sources: a lot of different publishers, editors, agents - even themselves. And on top of this, freelancers have to juggle a range of voices, tones, subject matters and locations.
Things can get very hectic.
Part of the reason for the chaos is that freelance journalists are a one-person band: every part of the story-creation process is done entirely by the journalist, which makes things even more stressful. To stay ahead of deadlines, freelance journalists have to optimize time by streamlining workflows - smart ways of working have to be used to survive.
Productivity is essential for any freelance journalist who hopes to hit deadlines. No two days are the same - Monday could mean three interviews with people in three different corners of the world, followed by an all-day deep-dive into a completely new, complex topic on Tuesday. Investing in productivity is a no-brainer.
One way to tackle multiple deadlines and assignments is with tech for freelance journalists. Mobile apps, third parties and software platforms can help things tick over a little easier. We're not saying the chaos disappears, but hey - that's part of the fun, right?
For a lot of freelance journalists it's the interview process that takes up the most time. Conducting interviews efficiently is essential - key information has to be provided in the smallest window of time possible, so it's important for freelance journalists their interview techniques in top form.
Once the important conversations are recorded and it's time to develop the interview text into a piece of content, freelance journalists shouldn't waste valuable time on manual transcription. Automated transcription for freelance journalists takes the work out of processing large amounts of interview audio. The story is in the details of the interview, and letting artificial intelligence transcribe that audio is the best, most efficient option for any freelancer. Trint's software uses artificial intelligence to convert audio into text, so interviews are laid out, ready to inform your article.
Another benefit to transcribed audio is that interviews become fully searchable. Once it's time to dig out the golden nuggets of information, time can quickly slip away without if interview audio can't be searched and analyzed. Here's where automated transcription from Trint is a great productivity tool: being able to search through transcripts means freelancers can get to the important stuff without the hassle. Trint gives freelance journalists the ability to 'search the spoken word,' which is like a superpower for busy freelancers in the chaos of the news cycle.
This searchability also applies to online search engines - another consideration that freelance journalists need to keep in mind when creating content. Making stories SEO friendly is a little bit science and a little bit art, but converting interview audio to text is a great start. It makes content instantly discoverable and searchable on Google, Bing and other search engines.
What does this mean for freelance storytellers? It means the ability to sort through conversations as though they've been written out - because they have been. That two-hour interview where blue whales were mentioned a handful of times? Simply search for 'blue whale' and find all mentions of it in the transcript, and create your story on the future of earth's largest mammals without listening through the entire audio file waiting for a specific mention.
As we head towards the future of journalism, the pressure on freelance storytellers to expand their skill-set and embrace technology is increasing. Journalists need a range of technical skills in their toolbox to compete with the up-and-coming digital generation. Lots of freelance journalists need to film interviews, edit their videos and create stories to complete a project, so cutting time with automated transcription makes new tech work for journalists so they can get around to other tasks.
Meeting deadlines from lots of different publications across time zones and newsrooms is all part of daily working life for any freelance journalist. Automated transcription from Trint helps journalists stay ahead of time.
Make interview transcription work for you - try Trint today.
