I have 36 years experience as a writer and journalist. When I began, I took advantage of every freebie given to me (it was the norm in the profession in those days) but soon learned that even if nobody told me what I had to write, I felt I owed the freebie-givers something.

I soon learned to pass up getting "something for nothing" because it doesn't exist -- at least not for a reporter with any self-respect.