Can someone please tell me what being staffed by an agency entails?

[Celinda]

I'm new. =) Sometimes when I contact an agency for work, they tell me that they are fully staffed already. What are the pros and cons of being staffed, and how is it different from being freelance? 

[Mary Ann Payonk]

My guess?  They might have some reporters who are employees who are officially "on staff" and work only for them.  They probably have a few freelance reporters who give them first-call status but work for other agencies.  And they no doubt have an overabundance of freelance reporters, independent contractors that they can call to cover their work who may or may not accept, but their list is so long that they are perfectly happy going from one to the next to the next, down the list, until a job is covered.  I would say be grateful that they are not misleading you by telling you that they "might" have work for you and keeping you on the string, thinking that they might call someday.  Because of the glut of reporters in many areas of the country, agencies have all the power nowadays.  They can use it wisely and fairly, or they can abuse that power.  An example of abusing the great power that agencies have nowadays would be, for example, collecting scores and scores of reporters' contact info not because they actually need reporters, but because they need to weed out the ones who are desperate enough to work for the page rates that they offer.  They very often will not choose quality but, rather, the reporters willing to work for the least.  Since you're new, you should know this.  There's a whole lot else you should know being new, but that's a good start.

M.A.