Used to spend a lot of time trying to get stuff in live news only to be dropped in the great cull along with a lot of other photographers.
I think that was part of the PA takeover, get rid of any occasional live news members, It makes sense, PA have a reputation to uphold.
IMO the bar was set quite low. I was doing live news part time and was worried I would be dropped, but I averaged at least one sale per week in print or online. I think If you was selling more than 50 images a year you would have been kept on.
I still work part time, however I now average 4 images/week
Dedication is the name of the game for news gathering