Quick Question

[mancerbear]

One of my player characters is an ex-journalist, and she wishes to sell stories in an ad hoc, freelance, fashion. We've finished our first adventure (High and Dry), and has written a story on the volcano on Winston.

My question is, how much would she likely be paid for said story? I've already determined that she won't be able to sell it until,they reach an X-boat route, but I'm stumped on figuring out how much a news service would pay for the story...

 

[fusor]

There's a lot of news happening in Charted Space. Would anyone really care outside the system (or even off-planet)?

 

[Tenacious-Techhunter]

Holovideo, or digital text? Also, why not, say a holo-blog, or text blog?

Honestly, without publishers lined up, it can be tough to sell a story, unless you’ve got a genuine, properly sourced scoop.

 

[mancerbear]

I'm a GM that says "yes" to players, not "no". I wasn't really asking for feasibility, just a way to figure renumeration.

She wants to act as a freelance reporter, I see no problem with that. Finding a buyer, she can use the highest of her Broker, Artist (writer), or Artist (holovid) skills. My only stumbling point is how much does she make per story.

 

[fusor]

I'm a GM that says "yes" to players, not "no". I wasn't really asking for feasibility, just a way to figure renumeration.

Then make a number up and don't listen to anyone here. 100Cr, how does that sound? Good? Done.

 

[Infojunky]

ined that she won't be able to sell it until,they reach an X-boat route, but I'm stumped on figuring out how much a news service would pay for the story...

Easy, a penny per word. More later if the story gets picked up.... The character is an Journalist in background so knowing who to mail it to is probably a given.

If it where my game I would allow the Player to make writing roll and use the result of that to influence a reaction roll with the results of that roll controlling the amount of monies received, probably starting a 50cr or 100cr base.

 

[Condottiere]

Going by real life trends, journalism is both a dying art and profession.

But if it's for our artificial gaming environment, you could have an agent whose job it is to find a buyer/outlet; results and payout may take quite a while, if neither of them are located in the same system.

Start a meowTube channel, and live on the advert revenue.

 

[mancerbear]

If it where my game I would allow the Player to make writing roll and use the result of that to influence a reaction roll with the results of that roll controlling the amount of monies received, probably starting a 50cr or 100cr base.

I quite like the idea of the 50cr or 100cr base, then perhaps multiplying that by the effect of her skill roll/s. It was the way I was kind of leaning as well

Thanks Infojunky

 

[GarethL]

One of my player characters is an ex-journalist, and she wishes to sell stories in an ad hoc, freelance, fashion. We've finished our first adventure (High and Dry), and has written a story on the volcano on Winston.

My question is, how much would she likely be paid for said story? I've already determined that she won't be able to sell it until,they reach an X-boat route, but I'm stumped on figuring out how much a news service would pay for the story...

According to the standard ard of living chart (pg. 92) low life cosys 1,000cr pm. (I'm guessing that freelance but low reknown journalist is low lifestyle but YMMV).

Assuming that you're writing 4-5 stories pm, that's roughly 200 cr per story.

First hand experience and imagery as with the adventure might be worth a premium however (in which case 100cr x effect seems reasonable after all she wasn't focussed on writing the story at the time so much as staying alive).

 

[Infojunky]

If it where my game I would allow the Player to make writing roll and use the result of that to influence a reaction roll with the results of that roll controlling the amount of monies received, probably starting a 50cr or 100cr base.

I quite like the idea of the 50cr or 100cr base, then perhaps multiplying that by the effect of her skill roll/s. It was the way I was kind of leaning as well

Thanks Infojunky

Your Welcome.

I have been pondering roving correspondents a bit recently, alongside how certain agencies gather spot information, i.e. the Scouts and their regular reading of Detached Duty Scouts Logs. There are lots of Travellers out there, writing letters "home" on a regular basis... So with that there should be people out recording interesting bits of news and passing it along for Pay. Another source to mind for ideas would be MgT Book 10: Cosmopolite. Note the Mail and Note culture of Classic Costume Drama's covering Westerns, Victorian and Edwardian Society and the like get a lot of information through Correspondence.

 

[Hopeless]

Ever thought about them writing this up in a book?

If they're truly a journalist don't they already have to send in reports already?

How are the other professions paid?

 

[mancerbear]

Ever thought about them writing this up in a book?

She WAS a journalist, during her character generation, but was ejected from the career through the machinations of an enemy. She is trying, through role play, to regain her credentials as a jounalist. She's not interested in writing a book, she wants to do on-the-spot reporting.

 

[legozhodani]

Human interest seems to be one of the great sellers. A premium could be charged if any of the other PCs have a history in print or a good SOC.

 

[Condottiere]

If she doesn't mind temporarily selling out, she could become a publicist, and in the course of glorifying her employer or one of the other PCs, get contacts and network.

 

[alex_greene]

One of my player characters is an ex-journalist, and she wishes to sell stories in an ad hoc, freelance, fashion. We've finished our first adventure (High and Dry), and has written a story on the volcano on Winston.

My question is, how much would she likely be paid for said story? I've already determined that she won't be able to sell it until,they reach an X-boat route, but I'm stumped on figuring out how much a news service would pay for the story...

A cheap publishing house would buy your stuff for 0.02 Cr per word; 1000 words would barely net you 20 Cr.

If you're a newcomer, that's your baseline.

Now here's where things start to get fun, because you can negotiate that per-word price upwards. This is where Broker or Persuade can come in.

The Broker or Persuade check is opposed by the publisher's own Broker skill. SOC DM, 1d6 minutes. A positive effect of +2 or higher becomes the multiplier for the base figure; a +4 Effect means that the publisher will pay you 0.08 Cr per word, a 1000 word article would get you 80 Cr. And that would be your standard rate, so you'd better get churning out those articles.

DMs in your favour:-

If you're already published (you have a portfolio of articles you've submitted to other publishers): DM+2.
If your material has resulted in major changes (an expose of corruption, for example, which contributed to the ending of that corruption): DM+4.
If your material has been published by a large news source (e.g. subsector-wide): DM+2.
If your material has won awards: DM+2.

The publisher can negotiate downwards ("You've got a Pulitzer. Why do you want to publish an article on gardening with us?") but they can't negotiate below 0.02 Cr per word.

Photojournalism is different. Photojournalists have a per-hour salary. The average is 15 Cr per hour. If a picture becomes newsworthy or iconic (e.g. if your character happened to snap a photo at the exact moment the Emperor Strephon takes the bullet that kills him), that pic could command royalties. How much royalties, depends on how well you and your publisher get along, and how good your Persuade or Broker skills are.

Paparazzi go around hunting celebrities. A really good photo or photo set, usually associated with some juicy scandal, can net a pap Traveller a small fortune; with a good publisher watching your guy's back, the Traveller pap could net upward of Cr 500k annually, easy.

 

[alex_greene]

All of this depends on the referee, of course, but if your guy's a pap trying to earn a crust, looking for pictorial gold and a juicy scandal, then that is what the referee should supply. There's no point in being a Traveller unless the adventure's actually there, and once you let the ref know that, for instance, you want your guy to be the sort of photographer who captures images of undiscovered ancient temples, rare animals, hot celebrity scandals or shocking war footage, the ref should put liberally salt the subsector with those undiscovered temples, rare flora and fauna, indiscreet celebs or vile atrocities, just waiting for your guy to discover them - or to race to them to beat your guy's rivals to the next scoop of the century or the next Big Thing.

As you can guess, I am enthusiastically behind this whole concept.

 

[Hopeless]

Depends on their field after all maybe they're a video journalist and get money by posting their latest report online and gets payment depending on how frequently its viewed?

How do they receive news about other systems unless they make use of journalists such as this character especially if its something important and they can't afford to send any of their main staff?

How much would they charge to have someone look into and report back on a subject of great interest to the masses?

 

[dmccoy1693]

Easy, a penny per word.

No one pays that poorly unless you're talking role playing games. And even then, most avoid that bad a payment.

I'd say Cr 300, modified by the Modified Price table (Sale Price listing) in the Trade section (page 211 in the 2e). This way, there is a roll involved.

 

[Tenacious-Techhunter]

Ever thought about them writing this up in a book?

She WAS a journalist, during her character generation, but was ejected from the career through the machinations of an enemy. She is trying, through role play, to regain her credentials as a jounalist. She's not interested in writing a book, she wants to do on-the-spot reporting.

On-the-spot reporting, delivered as-live-as-possible, requires a preexisting publishing agreement to “get the story out there” as fast as possible, so as to scoop the other organizations. Publishing independently is going to result in your low-priority mail traffic being pushed down, either due to sheer economics, or possibly also due to rival publishers stomping on the small-fry. This is a function of setting flavor, of course, but it’s the realistic approach with regards to Third Imperium descriptions.

The good news is, if the content is good enough, major news outlets will be approaching her for her footage. Anyone remember that recent movie about Indie Journalists hunting stories late at night, and selling the stories off to the network that is the highest bidder?

 

[legozhodani]

Worth getting TAS or scout service accreditation. Always helpful.