@BettyKirkers So I have some thoughts about this. I'm going to start with the optimistic: congrats on learning your desired path at an early age & wanting to jump in. That's genuinely great, however your thread is very defensive of toxic industry traits which shouldn't exist to begin with.

Coming from someone who lives in the States that didn't do those things & instead pursued it later, I mean it with sincerity when I congratulate you on discovering your passion & deciding to pursue it so early! I'm frustrated you are being defensive of folks not paying talent.

Starting your own publication is probably very difficult. Again: I'm super happy you're doing it at such a young age & that you have peers collaborating in a joined vision.

As I'm in the States,  I can tell you from experience & discussions w/ journalists at major pubs that Jschool isn't necessary in order to gain freelance clips. I wish more folks knew that. You really can do it without a

Pitching to national or international publications can absolutely be intimidating no matter what level of experience or age you are. Thankfully there are several resources out there which can be found online to help folks with that vs 10+ years