<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<p>Liam,</p>
<p>As a freelance, it's possible to do what you want. This topic has
been covered on this list many times over the past decade.</p>
<p>MY tl;dr is that I'm a researcher and journalist. Others here
have broad and varied combinations of skillsets, more true
"freelancers" in that regard, than I. Others are editors,
generalists, fiction writers (I've sold four of my latest
novel!!), non-fiction writers, and a gaggle of combos. There are
at least three known grammarians (formerly "grammar nazis"), and
we argue the Oxford comma for grins. I dangle participles and end
sentences with prepositions to taunt them. I can hear their teeth
grinding. There are thought and speech police here, too. <br>
</p>
<p>I have been known to write for vendor-sponsored publications, but
that was a passing fancy, and I've vowed to write only for
non-vendor sponsored publications. When I do research for vendors,
they're required to print my research intact. When I express
opinion, which is frequently, you'll know that's opinion vs
journalstic-standard-based facts vs marketing prattle and
foam-and-goo. <br>
</p>
<p>The Unbiased Journalist is a figment of your imagination.
Subscribing and adhering to journalistic standards is a
spectacular goal, and many here, including I, subscribe to these
standards and adhere to them to the best of our abilities. In the
real world, reporting as a journalist in an unbiased way is
possible, but to be unbiased is to be an automaton, and none of us
are those. We may, one day, battle automatons for space in media,
and that day is coming soon. </p>
<p>Morally, I can do research and publish results based on
referential standards, facts and findings, (hopefully) poised to a
target audience. Targeting sales people rather than geeks in data
centers are two different endeavors. The "general public" are a
third set of humans and have different needs still. <br>
</p>
<p>Having been the guy that had to make what the salesperson
promised work, I tend to side with the geeks. In tech writing, I
can address both audiences, but they are composed differently. I
distrust vendors and corporations, because their goals are not my
goals, and often only partially the goals of the purchasers of
their products and services. <br>
</p>
<p>You'll be tempted by vendor money. Editorial pursuits of vendors
may be highly walled from the vendor's marketing or other
departments/functions. The taint of bias can be very highly
removed, but for some, writing for a vendor is verbotten. Others
believe that their editorial integrity is not besmirched by
funding from vendors. They often cite that non-vendor pubs/sites
are only vaguely separated, and find that this fast blurs the
distinction. Some do not. <br>
</p>
<p>Your comfort and how you sleep at night is something you have to
decide. Income is your problem. There are tech writers that
currently work for organizational/corporate internal consumption
and are very good at this, and do a good and moral job. Moral in
the same way that making the best burger you can for McDonald's is
moral. We all have to eat. Sometimes eating defines morality, and
sometimes it doesn't. <br>
</p>
<p>Sorry to muddy this up for you, but the subsequent replies will
attempt to give you other and better answers. This is why the IPG
community is valuable.</p>
<p>Tom</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 12/9/18 1:41 PM,
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:ljkelly1888@gmail.com">ljkelly1888@gmail.com</a> wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:5c0d62a4.1c69fb81.c90c0.4518@mx.google.com">
<div data-externalstyle="false" dir="ltr">
<div>Quick question,</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I get approached by a ton of different firms asking if I
can help them with content, copy editing, technical writing,
and general writing needs. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>The thing is, I consider myself a <em>journalist</em> and
not a <em>marketer</em>. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Perhaps, I’m being a bit too naive, but can I morally take
on work for private firms to write marketing material for them
and continue to present myself as an unbiased journalist? I’ve
yet to try this out, but as I’m a bit of a minnow, maybe
there’s another way to think about this dilemma?</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Would love a bit of advice on this one.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Cheers,</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Liam </div>
<div data-signatureblock="true">
<div> </div>
<div>Sent from Windows Mail</div>
<div> </div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset class="mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset>
</blockquote>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Tom Henderson
ExtremeLabs, Inc.
+1 317 250 4646
Twitter: @extremelabs
Skype: extremelabsinc</pre>
</body>
</html>