BC ECONOMY
Saved by @Mollyycolllinss

🧵THREAD 🧵As it's the start of a new year, there seems to be a lot more calls for freelance pitches about. If you're thinking of pitching for the first time, or wanted a refresher, here are some of the things I find useful. /1

 First up, finding work – here's what I use to find calls for pitches each week. But you can easily search these yourself or set them up as columns in your TweetDeck. Use quote marks so it searches for the exact phrasing. /2 https://t.co/NyYcXLZ59R
I also try to keep a note of places making call outs that I don't immediately have ideas for – they're probably going to be swamped fairly quickly, but now you know they have budget – and they'll be less swamped if you come back to them in a month with a belter of an idea. /3
In weird Covid times, this is also a really helpful spreadsheet from @studyhallxyz on who is and isn't accepting pitches atm. This kind of stuff is often just useful to give you ideas of places you didn't realise you could pitch. /4 https://t.co/sRcuevWgBw
If you can't find an editor's email address, my favourite tool is @EmailHunter which shows you the format of an email address at any organisation, so you can take a best guess. 50 free searches a month. /5 https://t.co/JFxew4x4ca
Also, off this hellscape of a website, I'd recommend joining some Facebook groups. Yes, really. @asyiaiftikhar's Young Journalist Community is absolutely one of the best. They have a spreadsheet of editors happy to work with new writers, examples of successful pitches + opps /6
Other good groups I use include @freelancingfor, No 1 Freelance Media Women (who have a pitching hour for pitch feedback + loads of opps), gals in journalism, Women in Journalism, and our own Journo Resources one! /7
I would also heavily recommend the wonderful Slack community from @freelancesoc – as well as a channel of work opportunities, it's just a generally really nice community to be part of! /8
In terms of actually nailing your pitch, we've got this guide here which has a few real examples. Watch this space, as we're hoping to make an interactive library of these by next month! /9 https://t.co/hUMtlqa8t2
This is no longer running, but I always link to it as it's still a great resource – @GuardianJessica ran a series where she ranked pitches she received with grades and gave feedback (and also commissioned some) /10 https://t.co/2JFcwLtzRP
It's also worth subscribing to @MissedPitches to see what other people's look like – they send out a selection of them every week, and you can also submit any of yours which didn't quite land to try and find it a home. /11 https://t.co/8jNc695ANh
This is also a decent database of successful pitches too, and also includes info on the exchange with the editor and how the story turned out. /12 https://t.co/el5mzBY0gP
From an editor's perspective, we have this big old guide here, which is just a huge list of pitching guidelines from publications across the globe. Good for advice, and to see where you could pitch too. Props to @sianabradley for updating this weekly! /13 https://t.co/xOvxtJJnIf
There are thousands of pieces out there about how to write the perfect pitch, so I'm going to recommend just two – this is a really practical one from @TimHerrera that spells out all the common mistakes. /14 https://t.co/k1aHK8E7Lj
And, secondly, this one from @RobynVinter is very accessible and practical as well. /15 https://t.co/zXIKyfG98u
Okay, so rates! A couple of databases out there – we have one, so does @NUJ_LFB, and @WhoPaysWriters. All of these are also good places to look for inspiration too.

1️⃣ https://t.co/1otlK6UJQj
2️⃣ https://t.co/qk9hmC7V7h
3️⃣ https://t.co/vGvh3Q9OT2
That's basically all my oomph for now pals – I'll add more bits and bobs as I find them in future 🤓
Just realised I should probably say that my (free) newsletter goes out today. It has 50+ opps in it and goes out at about 5pm, depending on when I finally get out of bed and stop tweeting. https://t.co/tDR61ptMPJ

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What do a Tory Peer, Selwyn Gummer (Lord Chadlington), David Sumner ( Sumner Group Holdings) and the Sanchez Perez family (drugs money, laundered through Gold mines) have in common?

It’s another company-saving a £50 million PPE contract shaggy dog story

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“A bulletproof truck trundled down the road in downtown Lima, guarded by 18 policeman
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No-one was taking any chances
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That was in 2011, the same year that Lord Chadlington’s daughter got married in Chadlington to Henry Allsopp.

Who was there?
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Well. Come on. Lord Chadlington had been chair of the local Witney Conservative Association. It’s only fair.

Hang on. Julian Wheatland, Director of SCL Group/ Cambridge Analytica had also been chair of Witney Conservative Association...and campaigned for his mate Cameron

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Inflation Is Coming!

Some say: Inflation didn’t rise after 2008-2015 Fed QE, so it won’t rise this time. Here are the problems with that argument.

1) From 2008-2015 regulators hammered the banks, so while the Fed’s balance sheet expanded, M2 did not accelerate.

2) In 2020, we used the banks to push out money, the opposite of the first round of QE. PPP loans were financed through banks and unemployment checks were direct-deposited.
3) The M2 measure of money is up more than 25% in the past 12 months.

4) That alone, 25%+ M2 growth, is enough, but we are compounding the problems.
5) Regulating fossil fuel production drives energy prices up.
6) Ag, industrial & transportation are energy intensive, and many claim they are bad for the environment. Result: higher prices.

7) Federal government borrowing and deficit spending encourages more Fed money printing, and artificially lifts demand.
8) Higher tax rates, rising minimum wage, and big government crowd out the private sector; reducing supply.
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Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon RELATIVE to real economic activity. This last part is key.

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Will Tanner
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One of the hardest problems post-pandemic will be how to revive so-called "left behind" places.

Post-industrial towns, run-down suburbs, coastal communities - these places were already struggling before the crisis and have fared worst in the last year.

What should we do?

Today, @ukonward sets out the beginning of a plan to repair our social fabric. It follows our extensive research over the last year, expertly chaired by @jamesosh, and funded by @jrf_uk, @Shelter and @peoplesbiz.

https://t.co/d3T5uPwG9N


Before I get into recommendations, some findings from previous Onward research.

In 2018, we found 71% of people believe "community has declined in my lifetime"

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This was the basis for our identification of 'Workington Man' as the archetypal swing voter in 2019, and led us to predict (correctly) that large numbers of Red Wall seats could fall. A key driver was a desire for security, belonging and pride in place.


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https://t.co/HrorW4xaLp
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Wait … so … how much worse could the pandemic response and unprecedented death rate get?

How much farther shall our economy crater?

I wonder what it will feel like to get better.

I wonder what it will be like for things to get better after being arguably as bad as they have ever been.

Wait … sooo … were things this bad in 2016?

Wait … things were good? After eight years under a democratic administration?

Huh.

I wonder how all those falsehoods will play after things start to get better.

I wonder how many full fledged COVID deniers will finally encounter this deadly pandemic.

I wonder if red states will continue to suffer needlessly under Trumpian COVID policies.

I wonder what the recovering blue states will look like from those red states.

I wonder how much aid these red states will require from said blue states.

And I wonder what it will feel like to those red state constituents when the aid forced upon them makes things a bit better?
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ALL Exchanged Currencies as well as all Zim Redemption funds will be placed in the accounts they set up in the Quantum Financial System./1

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1/ A lot of new consumer technologies have been introduced to US households in the last 100 years. But it's taken many of them - like the telephone - more than 50 years to get to the majority of the US. Why is that?


2/ We had to literally teach people how to use phone. Which end goes to your mouth, which goes to your ear. Say "hello" when people call. The motivation of consumers to talk to their friends has always been there, but we had to teach the behavior


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