These grants are for freelance and fully employed journalists to cover under-told stories about ways to make cities and their metro regions work better for all their people. “The Neal Peirce Foundation anticipates offering up to seven journalists travel grants of up to $1,500 each in 2026 to support undertold stories about urban solutions to make cities and their larger regions work better for all people.
An ideal project for us to support is one where a journalist aims to inform a critical local debate in their home market by reporting on how a promising approach in another city is working.” The grants “enable journalists to travel to cities within the U.S. to produce one or more stories for publication.” And, “Reporters, writers, editors, and photographers working in print, online, radio, television and multimedia are eligible for travel grant awards if they have had stories published or aired in the previous 3 years. We especially welcome applicants early in their journalism careers or from backgrounds underrepresented in today’s news media.” Submission is via a form.
Value: Up to $1,500 each
Deadline: 13 October 2026
Open for: Freelance and employed journalists in the US
Details here and here.

 

The McGraw Fellowship provides editorial and financial support to US journalists who need the time and resources to produce a significant investigative or enterprise story that provides fresh insight into an important business, financial or economic topic. They accept applications for text, photo, audio, or short-form video pieces, and they encourage proposals that take advantage of more than one storytelling form to create a multimedia package. This is not a residency Fellowship. All Fellows work from their own offices. It is open to anyone with at least five years professional experience in journalism (you do not have to be a business journalist to apply; many of their many of their previous Fellows have been generalists, or cover beats such as health care, education, environment, corporate accountability or inequality). Freelance journalists, as well as reporters and editors currently working at a news organization or a journalism non-profit, may apply. The application includes a story proposal. Generally, they do not accept book proposals. They consider proposals of interest to U.S. readers from both foreign and American journalists based abroad, as long as the work is published in English in a U.S.-based media outlet. The October deadline is for the Fall fellowship. They will also consider time-sensitive projects on a case-by-case basis outside of the deadline periods. Also see their FAQ. “Applicants must be US citizens/residents or pay taxes in the US. We are unable to support Fellows who are not subject to US income taxes.”
Value: Grants of up to $15,000
Deadline: 12 October 2026
Open for: US residents / citizens
Details here.
 

These can be for six months (paying $20,000) or 12 months (paying $40,000) for in-depth written reporting. “Reporting projects must be for print/online publication (i.e., written projects), and they must be U.S. focused. Fellows aren’t required to live in the U.S., but the reporting project must be focused on the U.S., for publication in U.S. outlets.
Reporting projects should be in-depth and investigative in nature, and can cover any topic of public interest.” They also say, “Freelancers are strongly encouraged to apply for the fellowship. Applicants who are on staff full-time at media outlets may apply, if they intend to take a leave from their job for the fellowship.”
Value: $20,000-40,000
Deadline: 1 October 2026
Open for: Journalists writing for US publications
Details here – see the relevant category
(They have other opportunities listed as well.)
 

They have grants for journalists covering European affairs; one of the  upcoming deadlines is for the European Cross-border Grant programme; it “aims to address the shortage of independent journalism by providing grants to investigative journalism projects in Europe and encouraging cross-border collaboration with an expert approach.

(It) supports cross-border teams of professional journalists and/or (local and national) news outlets who have strong ideas for cross-border investigations and research on European topics.”
Value: €2,000 to €14,000 and more (see FAQ)
Deadline: 1 October 2026
Open for: Journalists covering European affairs
Details here and here
(See all their grants, including for Dutch and French media, on the main guidelines page.)


 

Arts Midwest supports, informs, and celebrates Midwestern creativity. They’re seeking writers and community documenters in Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois to pitch them “story ideas about creative people, artistic projects, or cultural programming.” They will pay $350 for short videos and $500 for web stories (500 words). For more details, refer to this page.

Narratively is a media company that publishes original and untold human stories. They’re looking for pitches:

“This fall, we’re looking to test a handful of new columns, series and storytelling formats, and we want writers, journalists, videographers, audio storytellers — really, anyone with a creative mind — to help us produce them.

Your idea could be a recurring first-person column. A reported series you’d guest-edit, bringing in different contributors for each installment. Short self-recorded videos. Bite-size audio stories. Interviews. Illustrated narratives. A storytelling game or experiment. Or, best of all, something we haven’t thought of yet!”

Rates range from $100 to $1,000. To learn more, refer to this page.

Sixty Inches from Center is a non-profit arts publication and archiving initiative that promotes art and writing in Chicago and the Midwest. They’re seeking ideas for their first publishing theme: RECIPES.

“Inspired by our ancestors and caretakers who pass down knowledge across generations, we ask you to consider what ‘recipes’ you want to pass down to future generations. We urge you to interpret this theme broadly. For example, what cultural practices bring you and your community together, or disrupt the status quo? What are the ingredients needed to bring people together to move us to to build something new, steward something along, or tear something defunct apart? If the recipe is the inquiry, then what needs to be brought together for us to find an answer? We invite creative approaches to these questions that explore them literally or conceptually.”

Rate is $150. Details here and here.

Cake Zine is an independent print magazine that explores society through sweets. They’re seeking pitches for their next issue, Ice Cream Time, which will explore the relationship between ice cream and time:

“As the name suggests our summer issue, Ice Cream Time, will explore the relationship between ice cream and time. Ice cream is ephemeral. Your only responsibility is to eat it before it melts.

We’re interested in stories that use frozen dessert to think about time: the historical, the futuristic, the seasonal, and the ephemeral. Nostalgia is fair game but don’t give us anything saccharine. Think: A review of the ice cream counter at Berghain after 12 hours of dancing, an oral history of the violent NYC soft serve truck turf wars, a whirlwind tour of discontinued ice creams (looking at you Choco Taco). Delve into the tools and technology that are reshaping the industry to predict what we’ll be tasting in 2050. Ask a flavor scientist: Why does melted ice cream never become ice cream again?”

They pay $175 to $225 for shorter pieces (350 words or less), poems, and recipes; $250 for mid-length pieces (500 to 1,000 words); $350 for longform pieces (around 2,000 words); and $250 for visual art. Details here and here.

Experience Life is Life Time’s healthy-way-of-life magazine. They’re taking pitches for the July/August 2027 print issue (due November 15, 2026). Who Pays Writers has a 2017 report of $1/word; guidelines don’t list a rate. To learn more, refer to their writer’s guidelines.

Women in Urbanism Canada is accepting blog pitches with an honorarium (amount not stated) on housing, mobility, accessibility, and placemaking through an intersectional feminist lens. To learn more, refer to their LinkedIn call.

Off-Field wants ground-reported longreads on niche sport subcultures (2,500+ words) plus photo essays. Print longreads pay £500; photography from £500. Volume #2 pitches close October 23, 2026. Pitch via their website. To learn more, refer to their pitching guidelines.

Afar is a travel magazine and site that favors immersive, place-and-people storytelling over aspirational lifestyle fluff. They are open for Spring 2027 print pitches from September 1–September 30, 2026. Rubrics include Workshop, Connect, Good Trips, Feast, Senses of Place, One Great Block, Behind the Scenes, packages/roundups, and features. Stated print fees include Connect at $3,000 (1,500 words), Workshop/Good Trips/Feast at $2,000–$3,000, shorter front-of-book columns at $300–$400, and packages at $1,100–$3,000; print features typically start at $1/word, and digital work starts at $0.50/word. Submit print pitches via the form on their guidelines page; digital beat editors are listed there. To learn more, refer to their pitch guidelines.

These can be for six months (paying $20,000) or 12 months (paying $40,000) for in-depth written reporting. “Reporting projects must be for print/online publication (i.e., written projects), and they must be U.S. focused. Fellows aren’t required to live in the U.S., but the reporting project must be focused on the U.S., for publication in U.S. outlets.
Reporting projects should be in-depth and investigative in nature, and can cover any topic of public interest.” They also say, “Freelancers are strongly encouraged to apply for the fellowship. Applicants who are on staff full-time at media outlets may apply, if they intend to take a leave from their job for the fellowship.”
Value: $20,000-40,000
Deadline: 1 October 2026
Open for: Journalists writing for US publications
Details here – see the relevant category
(They have other opportunities listed as well.

TravelPulse Canada features “travel industry news and videos for Canadian travel agents and travelers.” They welcome pitches from experienced freelance writers. They publish “timely travel news, destination features, trend analysis, and journalism relevant to travel professionals.” Their features and destination stories are 800 to 1,000 words. Pay is $250 CDN. If interested, direct your pitches to mail@travelpulse.ca. To learn more, refer to this page.

Art Deco Society UK is “a not-for-profit organisation bringing together lovers of Art Deco design from across the British Isles.” They’re seeking informative articles (approximately 1,000 words) covering any aspect of inter-war design from the UK, such as:

- Films

- Graphics

- Fine Art

- Fashion

- Transport

- Music

- Architecture

- Ceramics

- Fashion

Pay is £100 per article. If interested, email hello@artdecosociety.uk. To learn more, refer to this page.

Bisnow is a B2B platform for the commercial real estate industry. They’re seeking a Denver Freelance Reporter. The selected candidate will write 3-5 articles per week and produce daily morning briefs. The candidate should have great writing skills and excellent news judgment. This position must sit in Denver remotely. Pay is $3,000 per month. To learn more, refer to this page.

Observer is a website about business, arts, and entertainment. They’re looking for a Freelance Tech & Finance Reporter to “cover the intersection of technology, finance, and power—tracking the companies, investors, and opinion leaders shaping the future of Wall Street and Silicon Valley.” The reporter should have at least 3 years of experience. This role is remote. Their standard rate is $200-$400 per article. If interested, email your resume to business@observer.com. To learn more, refer to this page.

FOX Weather is looking for a Freelance Assignment Editor. The selected applicant should have “prior experience pitching, researching, writing, and building editorial elements in a collaborative team setting.” The role is based in New York, NY. The pay rate is $35 to $40 per hour. To learn more, refer to this page.

MissionWired is a full-service agency. They’re looking for a Freelance Digital Editor with excellent editing and research skills to join their quality assurance freelance team. The editor should have at least one year of experience. This role is remote and pays $25 to $35 per hour. To learn more, refer to this job description.

Matador Network is the largest independent travel publisher in the world. They’re looking for freelance travel stories. You can pitch across any of their verticals, but right now, they're keen on:

- “Pitches around sports fandom/travel around sports and sporting events (including F1, golf, tennis, and the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026)”

- “Articles that tie your personal experience with a deeper topic”

- “Reported dives into travel topics that can't be desk reported”

- “Stories around surprising travel trends and ideas”

Rates for stories range from $200 to $300. Articles are typically around 1,100 words. To learn more, refer to this page.

Business Insider covers business, personal finance, tech, lifestyle, politics, and more. Their editor is seeking pitches for first-person essays. Topics they’re actively pursuing include:

“- Expensive family trips you took and liked or didn’t like (will need to provide receipts for fact-checking)

- Budget family vacations you would/wouldn’t go on again (will need to provide receipts for fact-checking)

- Moving/relocation regrets, surprises, benefits

- Encouraging/discouraging extracurricular activities — sports, dance, etc. — based on cost (will need to provide receipts for fact-checking)

- Unique approaches to childcare (after-school or early education)

- Parenting regrets

- Pulling money out of your retirement account for travel, daily living expenses, childcare, etc. (will need to provide proof for fact-checking)

- Unique graduation gifts for your kids (travel, a session with a financial advisor, etc.)

- Paying for your older child’s housing (after college)”

Rates start at around $225 for essays of around 500-600 words. If interested, send your pitches to jgoldblatt@insider.com. To learn more, refer to their editor’s post. To contact them, refer to this page.

PolitiFact, a project of the Poynter Institute, is seeking talented Freelance or Contract Fact-Checking Reporters to help them navigate the noise of the 2026 midterm elections. Hours are a minimum of 20 per week (Monday to Friday), with the possibility of increasing to up to 40 hours as the election cycle intensifies. The role is fully remote and pays $30 to $35 per hour. To learn more, click here.

Africa Science News Service is a website that covers science and technology with an African eye. Their editor, Henry Neondo, just got in touch to let us know they're seeking freelancers. They pay a flat rate of  €700 for 1200 word features. They also pay €50 for photo, or  €500 for a combo of five photos. According to an old payment report, they paid $1.00 per word. To contact them, refer to this page.

Channel Kindness is a digital platform created by the Born This Way Foundation. They’re looking for stories in honor of Transgender Day of Visibility:

“In honor of Transgender Day of Visibility (March 31), Channel Kindness is inviting our community, including trans and gender expansive young people to submit powerful stories for a special series, Trans Visibility Stories: ‘Visible and Proud.’ Ten (10) storytellers will be selected to share their essays that integrate their lived experience with relevant research on the experiences of trans and gender expansive young people. Your story may be used to help inform future research, resources, and initiatives designed to support trans and gender expansive young people.”

Each selected author will be paid a $100 stipend. For details, refer to their post and call for stories.

The Margin is “an independent media platform that centers the people and places most affected by environmental injustice in the United States.” They’re seeking “reporting on communities on the frontlines of environmental and climate injustice.” They’re looking for “pitches on data centers, energy infrastructure, food systems, wildfire, and stories from underreported regions (the Midwest, the Deep South, Puerto Rico, Hawai'i).” They especially encourage Black, Indigenous, people of color, and LGBTQIA+ journalists to pitch. They publish long form investigative stories, generally up to 5,000 words, and pay an average of about $1 per word. To learn more, refer to their post and this page.

The Good Information Foundation is “a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2021 to tackle the growing information crisis in America.” Their editorial director is looking for freelance writers:

“I'm looking to add several skilled writers to Good Info News Wire's talent roster for localized lifestyle articles.

- Must be located in one of these states:

Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, or Utah

- What we're looking for:

• Experience writing lifestyle/culture content

• Strong sense of local voice and audience

• Reliable, self-directed work style”

Pay is $350 per piece. If interested, email claire@goodinfous.org. For more details, refer to their editorial director’s post.

This is a Substack-based project. They have a detailed mission statement, including, “Everything is Fine* recognizes that the United States is on a rocket-powered path towards full-throated fascism**, blasting past constitutional/institutional safeguards at warp speed and dragging its people and the rest of the planet, kicking and shrieking, deep into the cold, dark space of techno-oligarchy, christo-fascism and environmental devastation.
While the future feels full of darkness and foreboding, we at EIF* are forced to admit: it’s also a fascinating time to be alive. Sure, it’s a morbid fascination, but fascinating nonetheless. Here you will find opinions, reported stories, essays, profiles and other desperate, shrill yawps into the void, chronicling some of the weirder moments in the United States (and elsewhere) in the second Trump term.” They also have a detailed pitch guide, including, “Everything is Fine* is a resistance substack focused on anti-fascism in particular, and progressive issues in general. … We’re looking for reported stories, opinions, profiles/interviews, and personal essays, of somewhere between 1200 and 2000 words. We pay $200 for an essay/opinion, $250 if there is original reporting, and $300 if there are original photos in addition to the reporting.” Please read the work they have published to get a sense of what they like. Details here.

An editor at Slate has issued a pitch call; “I'm looking for ambitious features and personal essays for Slate's Business & Tech section. I’m interested in stories about the surprising ways tech and business are reshaping our lives, work, and culture. Strong characters, deep reporting, and big ideas always welcome. …What are the strange, surprising, or overlooked ways tech and business are reshaping everyday life? Who are the people living inside those changes? How has YOUR life been changed through the lens of tech and business? No story too weird.” And, “Typical features run 1,200–2,000 words. Rates are generally $500–$800 depending on scope (sometimes more, sometimes less). Can offer more for ambitious stories and reporting. No deadline—pitch whenever.” The pitch call / thread, with examples of stories the editor has assigned, is here.