Freelancer of the Fortnight: Gordon Cairns, UK

Click here to view Gordon Cairns' full freelance profile on Journalism.co.uk.

Why did you choose to become a freelancer?
Wanting to escape poverty made me go freelance - I was earning £12,000 working for a press agency. I now teach part-time to supplement my freelance income. I always hoped to get picked up by a newspaper but am now happy with the current situation.

If you trained, where? If not, how did you become a freelancer?
I did the Post-Graduate Diploma in Journalism at Strathclyde University in 2003.

Do you specialise in any particular field and what areas do you write about?
I tend to write a lot about education as I find stories through being a teacher, but also health, fitness, social issues, photography, football, cycling... Basically anything that I think makes a story.

Which publications have you been published in?
I contribute mainly to the Guardian, the Independent and the Herald. Over the years, I have been published in the Sunday Times, the Daily Mail, Black & White magazine, Families in Business, and No. 1 Magazine. I also write for a German English-language teenage magazine called Spot On, which always raises an eyebrow when I am trying to get an interview.

Which articles, in which publication, are you the most proud of?
This year I helped break the story of the SPT expenses in Scotland for the Sunday Times, by getting the information through an FOI request, which led to four people having to resign their posts. At the same time I broke the story about sleep counsellors going into Scottish schools which went global and made it onto the One Show.

What are the best and worst aspects of freelancing?
Best aspects are being able to choose what to write about, it keeps the work interesting. The downside of that of course is constantly having to generate story ideas. On the other hand, being freelance means never having to do a 'death-knock' again.

Do you have any interesting anecdotes in relation to your experience as a freelancer?
My most bizarre experience was covering the Big Brother auditions for the Sunday Mirror in Edinburgh, when eager would-be contestants thought that flashing at me would help their chances of getting picked.

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