Agencies vs Direct Commissioning (UK)

1. Two routes to getting published and paid

As a freelance journalist you can reach an audience in two broad ways. You can be commissioned directly by an outlet, dealing one-to-one with a commissioning editor who hires you to produce a specific piece. Or you can work through an agency, an intermediary that sells or syndicates your work to publications on your behalf and takes a share of what it earns.

Neither route is universally better. They trade different things: control and rate against reach and convenience. Understanding exactly what each does to your rights, your income, and your relationships lets you match every story to the route that serves it best — and many established freelancers use both.

2. What a press, photo, or news agency does

“Agency” covers several different businesses, and the model varies with each:

• 1News and wire agencies distribute breaking news and copy to many subscribing outlets at once, prizing speed and reliability.
• 2Feature agencies place longer-form articles, human-interest stories, and exclusives with newspapers and magazines, often internationally.
• 3Photo and picture agencies license images to publications and manage the rights, sales, and re-sales of a photographer's work.

In each case the agency handles the selling: it finds buyers, negotiates, invoices, and often syndicates the same work to multiple outlets. In return it keeps a share of the revenue and, depending on the contract, may take control of some or all of the rights.

3. What direct commissioning means

With a direct commission, you deal with the outlet yourself. You pitch or are approached, agree a brief and a fee with the commissioning editor, deliver the work, invoice the publication, and license it the rights you have negotiated. There is no intermediary taking a cut, so the headline rate is usually higher per outlet, and you keep whatever rights you do not license away. The flip side is that you carry all the work of selling and admin yourself: finding the buyer, negotiating terms, chasing payment, and building the relationship. Direct commissioning rewards journalists who can sell their own work and who value control over their copyright and their editor relationships.

4. Rights and syndication splits

The single most important difference between the two routes is what happens to your rights. When an agency syndicates your work, the same article or image can be sold to many outlets and territories, and the proceeds are divided between you and the agency according to a split set in your contract.

A good non-exclusive arrangement leaves you owning your copyright while the agency licenses specific rights and shares the income. A more aggressive one takes exclusive or all-rights control, so the agency, not you, decides how the work is re-sold and keeps the lion's share of future value. Syndication can multiply what a single piece earns, but only if the split is fair and you have not signed away the rights that make re-sale valuable in the first place.

5. Rates and the cut agencies take

Agencies earn by taking a percentage of what your work makes. That share varies widely by agency, format, and territory, and it is negotiable. Because published figures date quickly and differ from one agency to the next, this guide deliberately avoids quoting rates. Instead, interrogate any split before you sign:

• ›Is the percentage taken before or after costs, and what counts as a deductible cost?
• ›Does the split differ for domestic sales, foreign rights, and re-sales, and if so how?
• ›What do you actually net per sale once the cut and any fees are applied?
• ›How does the likely net compare with what the NUJ Freelance Fees Guide suggests the work is worth?

6. Payment reliability

Payment risk exists on both routes; the question is who manages it. A reputable agency can handle invoicing and collection, chase slow outlets, and pay you on a predictable schedule, which is genuinely valuable if you sell into many markets or dislike credit control. But a weak agency simply inserts another party who might pay late, and you are relying on their solvency as well as the outlet's. Going direct puts collection in your own hands and lets you rely on the UK's late-payment rules against the outlet, but the chasing is yours to do. Whichever you pick, agree written payment terms up front, keep clear records, and know your statutory right to interest on overdue commercial invoices.

7. Exposure and reach trade-offs

Reach is where agencies shine. A wire or syndication agency can put your work in front of dozens of outlets and international markets at once — audiences and buyers you could never reach negotiating one deal at a time. That exposure can build a byline, generate re-sales, and place stories that would otherwise die unpublished. The cost is dilution: your name may be smaller, your rate per outlet lower, and your relationship is with the agency rather than the editors who run your work. Direct commissioning trades that breadth for depth, giving you a stronger byline and a personal relationship at each outlet but reaching one publication at a time. Weigh which currency — breadth or depth — matters more for a given story.

8. Retained rights and re-sale

Rights you keep are rights you can sell again. A feature re-licensed to a foreign edition, an image that sells repeatedly, an interview repackaged for another market — these re-sales can, over time, outstrip the original fee. That is only possible if you retained the rights in the first place. Under a fair non-exclusive agency deal or a direct commission where you license limited rights, you keep the ability to earn from your work again. Under an all-rights assignment, whether to an agency or an outlet, that future income belongs to someone else. Before signing anything, ask what you are keeping and what you are giving up, and treat your back catalogue as an asset worth protecting.

9. Contract terms to watch

Whether you deal with an agency or an outlet directly, the contract decides what you actually get. Watch for these terms in particular:

• ›All-rights grabs: broad assignments that hand over your copyright or unlimited rights for one flat fee, killing future re-sale income.
• ›Exclusivity and duration: how long, and how widely, the deal ties up your work, and whether you can place it elsewhere.
• ›Kill fees: what you are paid if commissioned work is not used, and whether it is a fair proportion of the agreed fee.
• ›Territory and re-sale: who controls foreign and secondary sales and how the money from them is split.
• ›Indemnity and liability: what you are being asked to warrant, and whether you are exposed if a dispute arises.

10. When an agency makes sense — and when direct wins

11. NUJ rate guidance and building direct relationships

Whichever route you use, benchmark your pay against the NUJ Freelance Fees Guide, the standard UK reference for what journalism work is worth across outlets and formats. It will not quote your exact contract, but it gives you a defensible sense of fair value before you accept an agency split or negotiate a direct fee. Over time, the most resilient freelance careers combine both routes: agencies for reach, speed, and hard-to-place work, and direct commissions for rate, control, and lasting editor relationships. Investing in those direct relationships — delivering clean copy on time, pitching well, being easy to work with — is what turns one-off commissions into a dependable income.

Frequently asked questions