These days freelance writers have to keep up with the times – the New York Times, that is, and the LA Times, the Washington Post and the Christian Science Monitor. Why? The fortunes of newspapers are changing and it’s changing what they want – or don’t want – from freelancers. Shrinking newspapers advertising means shrinking news holes, and that means fewer opportunities for freelancers to sell features, essays and other pieces to papers.

Opportunities haven’t dried up completely, you just have to know where to look. For example, a freelance writer I know just landed a deal to write a regular adventure travel column for a major daily newspaper. Other papers are upping their spending for online and multimedia projects, a potential boon for freelancers who are as good with a camcorder as they are with a keyboard.

The same holds for magazines. While some consumer magazines are getting thinner by the month, others are holding steady, and some publishers are even launching new publications. The same thing’s happening in the trades. While many b-to-b or trade magazines have seen drops in ad pages or revenue or both from this time last year, business magazines in some industries are doing OK, and some are showing strong improvements from 2007.

A smart freelancer needs to keep tabs on all that. But how?

Actually, that’s easy. Thanks to some ambitious news hounds, you can read a couple blogs on a regular basis and keep tabs on who’s out, who’s in, what’s launched, what’s died, what’s hot, what’s not – the zeitgeist of the whole media business. My favorites:

Romenesko – Far and away, the most comprehensive blog for capturing the daily drama that is the U.S. newspaper business. Yes, you can go to Poynter Online and read it, but it’s even better to subscribe and find it, like a little gem hiding in your otherwise boring email inbox.

Mr. Magazine – What Romenesko is to newspapers, Samir Husni, aka “Mr. Magazine” is to magazine. Husni is the chair of the University of Mississippi Journalism Department. He’s also the brains behind the annual listing of most notable magazine launches, which he writes about in his Mr. Magazine blog. His pick for most notable launch in 2007: Conde Nast Portfolio.

Mediabistro’s Revolving Door – Mediabistro, the online support system for journalists (job listings, classes, forums, etc.), delivers this tasty dish of industry comings and goings twice a week. Read it at the Website, or register – it’s free- and have it delivered.

Magazine Health Watch – If numbers are your thing, this is your kind of place. This database of information on ad pages and revenue in consumer and business publications is updated daily by Inquiry Management Systems, a publishing service company. The interactive database lets you slice and dice listings any number of ways, handy if you’re interested in finding out which magazine categories are on the rise. Did you know that ad pages for sales management magazines (there are 11) rose 21 percent in the first quarter of 2008 compared with the same period the previous year?

Got your own favorite Website or blog for keeping tabs on the news business? Leave it in a comment and I’ll post it here.