Freelancer of the fortnight: Sophie McAdam, UK

Click here to look at Sophie McAdam's full freelance profile on Journalism.co.uk.

Why did you choose to become a freelancer?
I chose to become a freelancer because I have a young daughter and live in an area where there are not many opportunities for staff journalists. It was either move to London or freelance from Yorkshire, and I prefer living in a rural area.

If you trained, where? If not, how did you become a freelancer?
I got a first class BA Hons degree in Journalism from Sunderland University. In my final year, I specialised in campaigning and investigative magazine features on issues such as fair trade, globalisation and consumerism, and I won an award for an in-depth article on child prostitution in the UK.

Do you specialise in any particular field and what areas do you write about?
I like to write about issues I feel passionate about, which is the beauty of freelancing. My features specialise mainly in socio-political current affairs, but I also write about parenting, travel, spirituality and women's issues - I won a national talent competition for NW (formerly New Woman) magazine in 2007 with a blog on society's attitudes to female bodies.

Which publications have you been published in?
I am a regular contributor to the Big Issue in the north and have had articles published in CorporateWatch, Red Pepper and NW magazine. I edited my own local parent and child magazine for a year and have recently started travel writing. I've also just finished a year-long commission to write a biography of a clairvoyant medium, which is winging its way to the publisher as we speak.

Which articles, in which publication, are you the most proud of?
All my Big Issue articles make me proud; writing for a magazine with such a worthy cause and a philosophy I believe in was always an ambition of mine. My articles have covered lots of issues I care about such as ethical consumerism, refugees, youth, 'big brother' society, philanthropic social movements, but getting my first front cover article with my piece on the erosion of civil liberties in January this year was definitely the icing on the cake.

What are the best and worst aspects of freelancing?
The best aspect has to be the freedom that comes from choosing your own hours, working from home and not having a boss. As a freelancer, I also learn a lot while doing my research; it's fantastic for building general knowledge. Knowing that I may have made a small difference to an issue close to my heart by writing about it is another reason I do what I do.

I can't think of any downsides; I adore my job and would never do anything else.

Do you have any interesting anecdotes in relation to your experience as a freelancer?
Researching my feature on refugees for the Big Issue in June 2007 was quite an experience. I met four people who had heartbreaking tales of tragedy and I was very affected by their stories: particularly a man who was caught up in the Kosovan war as a teenager and a lady who suffered horrendous abuse during a miltary coup in Togo before managing to escape.

Their strength, positive outlook and commitment to give something back to the UK was humbling. I like to think that by humanising such a controversial issue I helped people to think about the horror stories behind the statistics and screaming Daily Mail headlines. 

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