IS there an issue you feel so strongly about that rather than just reporting on it, you'd like to stand up and be counted, pushing to get it changed?
My friend Ellie Levenson has embarked on a campaign to allow women greater access to emergency contraception. It's interesting to see how Ellie has tackled this so far and how she has gained pitches, momentum and publicity from a standing start.
So far, Ellie has written this piece for Progress, which is a Labour Party think tank magazine, been commissioned by The Guardian and been featured in The Jewish Chronicle.
It's early days, but Ellie is also aiming for mentions in women's magazines, more national papers and blogs. I'm happy to oblige. If you agree with Ellie's campaign, then you can sign her petition. But even if you don't, I hope her experience of launching the campaign and being commissioned off the back of it, may be useful to you.
See over the cut for some brief questions and answers with Ellie.
Q: How do you feel you can make a difference as a freelance journalist?
A: "As a freelance journalist, you can make a difference because you can write your own articles about your subject and convince colleagues to do the same.
Also, you know how to pitch a story and make sure it has a hook and a human interest angle and how to pitch it differently for different media, with different angles.
If I'm called upon for media comment at short notice, that doesn't faze me because of my job.
I thought it was time to put my money where my mouth is and not just criticise the way things are done but actually try to change how it is done."
Q: How do you think such a campaign could affect your freelance career?
A: "I'm not sure yet. It may lead to me being pigeonholed about this kind of issue but I can think of worse things to write about for the rest of my career than women's issues, contraception, abortion and so on."
Q: What tips do you have for other freelances who want to start their own campaign on something they feel strongly about?
A: "Just get out there and do it. The worst that can happen is nobody takes any notice, in which case no one will realise you failed. I believe in getting people talking about difficult issues.
* Don't underestimate the power of the web, though don't ignore newspapers either, and don't ignore specialist press as they often have the most loyal and active readers.
* Think of lots of angles on your story too so that you can offer different articles to different people and try to think through the arguments your opponents will use so you can counter them in advance."
Related posts: How to get your views into print, an interactive guide
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