By Leslie Ornelas

Jeff Beckham’s SXSW panel, Freelance isn’t Free: The Twisited Economics of Writing Today, seems to come at the most appropriate time when struggling newspaper are looking for freelance writers instead of full-time reporters.

Beckham graduated from the University of Texas with a journalism degree and spent the early years of his career working for newspaper. He now works for the online group of AT&T, but decided to find an outlet where he could write more about his interests– sports and technology. Two years ago Beckham began writing for the Austinist and is currently their Tech and Sports Editor.

“So in working with Austinist, I saw how local media could be effective even where every person was an unpaid volunteer. It was a really nice community effort,” Beckham said.

Beckham’s opportunity to write for the Austinist led him to an inevitable question which in turn led to the topic of his SXSW 2010 panel: What kind of freelance work is worth paying for?

“On the one hand, anyone who wants to can now write and publish their work online, even if it’s for a tiny audience. But it’s also made it more difficult for freelance writers to get paid for their work. If the quality is roughly the same, why wouldn’t sites choose to work with a large army of people working for free rather than a select few asking for money?” he said.

Beckham hopes that his panel will act as a discussion between freelancers and media outlets.

“Freelance workers should come away with a better understanding of what types of writing or content are worth paying for, and representatives of the media should come away with an empathy for freelance workers, but also a sense of fairness on the value of their work,” Beckham said.