here's some other advice for ya. If you wanna be a freelancer it's a good idea to get established in the field before you go out on your own. This will get you recognition, and it will get you some cash to buy what you will need.
Minimum equipment for a freelancer:
Newspaper:
Police scanner. Preferably several of them, all mounted in your vehicle, which is now your newscar. Each scanner should be monitoring a set band in the following order of importance: one for city police, one for state police, one for city fire, one for airport, one for citizens band. If you only have one scanner, you can miss news - for example if the city cops are talking about where to go for their coffee break, and meanwhile the airport is talking down a disabled 747 that has 2 engines engulfed in flames and has lost part of the tail, you might just miss the airport because the scanner has locked onto the police chatter. Your objective here is to get to stories BEFORE the papers do. Otherwise, they'll use their photographs rather than paying more money for yours.
Laptop computer. Preferably with cellular modem capability - unless you live in a city with a lot of wifi nodes. This lets you write your stories in the field and get them to the paper fast.
A GOOD camera. Pay the most attention to the lens. You can have the crappiest body in the world, but if your lens is awesome, you'll be able to get awesome pictures.
A mini-dv video camera - most newspapers have online content now which includes video. This will give you a competative edge.
For radio: All of the above (including the mini-dv camera because many radio news outlets, including NPR, are putting video content on the web) plus:
A minidisc recorder. I recommend the Sony portables because they're small, they take one HELL of a beating, and their battery life is phenomenal. Make sure you get one with a mic input though - some of them don't have one.
At least one GOOD microphone. Preferably three. You should buy them in this order: Omnidirectional. This is your all purpose mic. It'll pick up sound well from just about every direction, it's rugged, and it can be used in any situation. If you can't afford a shotgun (more about that in a second), wrap a piece of paper in a cone around the omni, and you have an instant pseudoshotgun. Your second microphone should be a wireless lavaliere. These are the little tie-clip microphones. You want it wireless because you can then stick it on your subject (for example, the chief of police who's working the homicide you're covering), then sit back and record the sound. Your interview subject will soon forget that he even has a microphone on, and his conversations with you and others will be much more natural. Next purchase would be the shotgun mic. This is a very directional mic which will greatly reduce sound coming from any direction other than where you're pointing it. These are GREAT for capturing sound in noisy environments or where you can't get close to the sound you're going for. This one's expensive - a decent one is at least $600.
Spare batteries for EVERYTHING.
Gaffer's tape. If you have to run mic cables, tape 'em down with this stuff so people don't trip over them.
Leatherman. This will become your best friend if you use radio or TV equipment in your freelancing. All the tools you need in one little toy. Don't get the cheap imitations. They fall apart too fast, and usually they don't have locking blades.
For television freelancing: Everything above (except the minidisc recorder) plus:
A camera. (duh). At MINIMUM you want a Sony PD-150. This is a 3-CCD mini DV camera. Its lens sucks so be ready to buy a crapload of adapters to make it useable. You really want either a DVC or DVC-Pro camera. A good starter one is the Panasonic AG-200, which is only $5000 to $7000 depending on lens (and you'd better get a very good lens). When you get to the big leagues of freelance TV photography, you'll be looking at the $60,000 betacams.
Camera security. Now that you have that expensive camera, you need to secure it when it's in your car. Best best is with a camera safe. Remember that no security system is undefeatable. Best rule of thumb is to carry your camera whereever you go.
Lights. First light to get is a frezzi or anton-bauer on-camera dimmable spotlight with a dichroic filter and barn doors. Then get a light stand for it and don't use the damn thing on the camera or you'll flatten your subjects out and they'll look terrible. That will pretty much do you until you start working in-depth pieces (read: on-assignment-freelance rather than "hey i just got this video that no one else has" freelance)
Tripod. Get a DAMN good tripod. If it doesn't have a fluid head, it's not a good tripod. Make sure it can support the weight of whatever camera you end up with. Make sure it's sturdy enough that it won't wiggle around when you touch the camera.
Portabrace. This is kind of like a sweater for your camera. It goes around the camera, protecting it from the elements, while also providing pockets here and there to store crap in.
Steadybag. It's basically a bean bag. If you have to shoot without your tripod, you can plop the bag down and put the camera on it - instant steady shots. You can spend $100 for the store-bought cinnesaddle ones, or you can make it yourself.
Fishing vest, or utility belt. You've got to carry a LOT of crap around as a freelance TV photographer. You'll need something to carry it in.
Training. All this stuff is useless if you shoot like crap. The stations can get their own photographers to shoot like crap. You'd better be able to shoot really well or they won't want your stuff. You might look into attending the NPPA's annual Workshop in Norman, OK. see
www.b-roll.net for information on that.
Like I said, all this stuff is the absolute minimum you'll need as a freelancer. Breaking in to freelance is very difficult because you first have to be accepted as an ethical and reliable journalists by your news organizations, and you then have to sell your kidney to afford all the crap you need.
If you're looking for story ideas, check
www.poynter.org and look at Al's Morning Meeting. He always has some really good story ideas.
www.powerreporting.com and
www.journaliststoolbox.com are both VERY powerful resources to use in researching your stories.
need info on a person? Try
www.virtualchase.com You can dig up all sorts of cool stuff in there
researching a legal matter is easier through findlaw.com.
Good luck! like I said before, it's a very exciting field to be in!