Awards, Grants, & Fellowships
Ambitious freelancers who want to tackle an in-depth reporting project often find that the fee from a potential publisher doesn’t come close to covering their costs and time. Grants and fellowships can fill that gap, but freelancers have to know about them in order to apply. In this section, the Freelance Center is compiling a list of non-AHCJ grants, fellowships and awards (for when the hard work is done). Click on the links for more details, including applications deadlines. This section will be updated regularly. For information about AHCJ fellowships and its annual Awards for Excellence in Journalism, visit the fellowship and awards pages of the website.
Awards
AACR June L. Biedler Prize for Cancer Journalism
The American Association for Cancer Research awards $5,000 annually to a journalist whose compelling story enhances the public’s understanding of cancer, cancer research, cancer advocacy or cancer policy.
Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute: The Matthew Power Literary Reporting Award
This award from the journalism institute at New York University provides up to $12,500 to provide the means for promising early-career, creative nonfiction writers to report on an untold story that uncovers truths about the human condition.
ASJA Outstanding Article Awards
These awards from the American Society of Journalists and Authors honor writers whose articles, produced on a freelance basis, have demonstrated excellence in writing, research, and clarity of presentation. Categories include health and science.
Carolyn C. Mattingly Award for Mental Health Reporting
This award, named for a philanthropist and activist who was tragically killed, honors exemplary journalism that illuminates and advances the understanding of mental health issues and treatments for the illness. Each year’s winner receives $10,000.
Excellence in Science Communication
Given by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in partnership with Schmidt Futures, this award is for science journalists and research scientists who have developed creative, original work that addresses issues and advances in science, engineering, and/or medicine for the general public. The there submissions categories for journalists are freelance journalists, early career journalists, and reporting at the local/regional level.
Front Page Awards
The Newswomen’s Club of New York sponsors these annual awards, which recognize work published by newswomen at local, regional and national outlets across the New York metropolitan area. Past winners include journalists whose work appeared in Bloomberg, New York Magazine, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and others.
Gerald Loeb Awards for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism
Calling all AHCJ members who have written compelling stories about the business of healthcare. The Gerald Loeb Awards from the UCLA Anderson School of Management are the most prestigious honor in business journalism in the United States. Individual journalists and media outlets can submit entries in 12 competition categories.
The Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting
This prize, administered by the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University, honors investigative reporting that promotes more effective and ethical conduct of government, the making of public policy or the practice of politics in the United States. The winner receives $25,000, and five finalists receive $10,000 each.
Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability
This award from the National Center on Disability Journalism at Arizona State University’s journalism school is the only professional journalism contest devoted exclusively to disability coverage. Journalists working in digital, print, audio and broadcast media are eligible to enter.
Livingston Awards for Young Journalists
The University of Michigan gives this annual awards to journalists under age 35. Each winner receives a $10,000 prize.
National Institute for Health Care Management Awards
These journalism awards recognize excellence in health care reporting and writing on the financing and delivery of health care in four categories: general circulation; trade journalism, television and radio; and digital media.
New York Press Club Awards
Members of the New York Press Club are eligible for these prestigious awards, which are divided into awards for stories covering the NYC metro area and national awards. Entries are considered in 30 categories.
Online Journalism Awards
The Online News Association sponsors these awards, which recognize innovative work in digital storytelling. There are 17 categories, and five awards come with a total of $40,000 in prize money. There is an entrance fee, which is discounted for members.
Science in Society Awards
These awards from the National Association of Science Writers recognizes journalists for investigative or interpretive reporting about the sciences and their impact on society. Submissions are accepted from Dec. 1 to Feb. 1 each year.
Scripps Howard Journalism Awards
These wide-ranging awards honor high-impact and innovative journalism, including in categories like environmental reporting and human interest storytelling.
Sigma Delta Chi Awards
These awards from the Society of Professional Journalists recognize the best in professional journalism in categories covering print/online, audio, television, and more. There are also Spanish-language awards in seven categories. Work published or broadcast by a U.S. or international media outlet is eligible, including freelance stories.
Sunshine Award
This award from the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) “recognizes people and groups making important contributions in the area of open government.” Winners are selected from nominees; self-nomination is allowed. There is no set number of winners.
Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Science Reporting
This prize from the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing honors a writer for a body of work published or broadcast within the past five years that “has made a profound and lasting contribution to public awareness and understanding of critical advances in medical science and their impact on human health and well-being.” The honoree receives an award of $3,000.
Grants & Fellowships
The Alicia Patterson Foundation Fellowship
Fellows receive a $20,000 stipend for six months or $40,000 for twelve months and are expected to work full time on their projects, which are expected to result in four print articles. Freelancers are eligible to apply.
American Heart Association travel stipend
U.S. freelancers who qualify for embargoed access to the association’s news materials are welcome to apply for a $2,500 travel stipend to attend one of its five select scientific conferences.
The Dennis A. Hunt Fund for Health Journalism Grants
The fund provides grants of up to $10,000 for ambitious investigative and explanatory journalism projects on critical health issues facing underserved communities. Both freelancers and news outlet employees are eligible to apply.
The Dennis and Shirley Feldman Fellowship
This fellowship from the National Press Club Journalism Institute awards a graduate journalism student a one-time stipend of $5,000 to help defray tuition costs.
Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute Fellowship
The institute at the University of Missouri is taking proposals from people and organizations to develop innovative strategies for local news. The fellowship lasts eight months and comes with a $10,000 a month stipend for fellows living on campus or a $5,000 a quarter stipend for the nonresidential fellowship.
The Ferriss — UC Berkeley Psychedelic Journalism Fellowships
This program offers 10 $10,000 reporting grants annually to journalists reporting narratively-rich stories on the science, policy, business and culture of the rapidly changing field of psychedelics.
Fund for Investigative Journalism Grants
These grants of up to $10,000 are to defray the expenses of an investigation that uncovers wrongdoing by powerful people or institutions. The fund reviews applications in the fall. Applicants must include a letter of commitment from a news outlet to run the articles.
The Good Science Project — Johns Hopkins M.A. in Science Writing Fellowship
Johns Hopkins is providing $5,000 reporting grants for feature-length magazine articles that reveal flaws in current science policy, practice, or funding and identify solutions.
The Howard G. Buffett Fund for Women Journalists
This fund, part of the International Women’s Media Foundation, awards grants on a rolling basis to women and nonbinary journalists for professional development opportunities, investigative reporting and media development initiatives. Applications may take up to eight weeks to process.
The Impact Fund for Reporting on Health Equity and Health Systems
This program from the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism supports ambitious investigative or explanatory projects on systemic racism in public health, health care policy and the practice of medicine. Grantees receive professional mentorship and a $2,000-$10,000 grant to help with reporting costs. They also participate in monthly online development and brainstorming sessions with other reporters.
Investigative Reporters & Editors Fellowships
The nonprofit Investigative Reporters & Editors offers two fellowships that might be of interest to AHCJ members, including one specifically for freelancers. The Freelance Fellowship provides as much as $2,500 to help independent journalists conduct investigative projects. The Journalist of Color Investigative Reporting Fellowship provides assistance for qualifying journalists to attend various IRE conferences.
JAWS Health Journalism Fellowship
This fellowship from the Journalism & Women Symposium supports emerging and early career journalists as they complete an intensive project on a key component of health care. Fellows receive a reporting grant of $4,000 to cover project-related time and expenses and mentoring by an experienced health journalist for the duration of the project and beyond.
Joan Shorenstein Fellowship Program
Journalists, politicians and policymakers spend a semester at Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center to work on a research-based project related to journalism, media, public interest technology or decision science. Fellows receive a stipend.
The Journalists in Aging Fellows Program
The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) and the Journalists Network on Generations run this fellowship, with financial support from various foundations. Fellows will attend GSA’s annual scientific meeting, with travel and hotel paid, and commit to completing one short-term story and one long-term in-depth project about any research-based aspect of aging. Each fellow also will receive a stipend of $1,500.
The Knight Science Journalism Program Fellowship
The Knight Science Journalism Program at MIT offers academic-year fellowships to 10 science journalists. Living on campus or in the area, fellows explore science, technology, and the craft of journalism and are required to complete a research project. Fellows receive an $85,000 stipend over nine-and-a-half months, a travel and housing stipend, and basic health insurance.
Knight-Wallace Fellowships
Up to 20 experienced journalists are selected for an eight-month program of immersive study at the University of Michigan. Fellows receive a $75,000 stipend and audit courses, participate in private seminars and workshops and work on an individual journalism project.
The McGraw Fellowship for Business Journalism
Fellows receive grants up to $15,000 and editorial support needed to produce deeply reported stories that delve into critical economic, financial or business issues across an array of subjects, including health care. Applications are accepted twice a year.
NIHCM journalism grants
The National Institute of Health Care Management provides funding for health reporting, educational opportunities for health care reporters and for support of documentary films and their public engagement campaigns.
Nova Institute Media Fellowship
This full-time, 12-month fellowship supports journalists who wish to complete media projects that explore the many factors that promote well-being, prevent disease, contribute to healing and increase an individual’s ability to flourish and live a fulfilling life. Fellows receive an award of $105,000.
O’Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism
Each O’Brien Fellow receives a $75,000 salary stipend to spend nine months reporting an in-depth public service journalism project. Fellows traditionally are in residence at Marquette University.
The Open Notebook Early-Career Fellowship Program
This part-time, ten-month fellowship program is for early-career science journalists. Fellows, who receive a $5,500 stipend, work remotely with a mentor to plan, report and write five articles for publication at The Open Notebook. There are several rounds of edits. This fellowship is ideally suited for freelancers because it requires a significant weekly time commitment.
The Pulitzer Center U.S. Local News Reporting Grants
Local news outlets and freelancers are eligible to receive grants for data, investigative and accountability journalism that shines a light on systemic issues at the local level. State and regional outlets can also apply. Grants based on a budget you submit cover the hard costs of reporting a project. Freelancers should have an outlet interested in working with them.
The Pulitzer Center Global Reporting Grants
These grants support reporting on critical issues from global health to human rights and climate change. Stories often address the root causes of crises around the world, including the United States. Awards that cover reporting costs are typically in the low thousands but can be more for highly ambitious projects. Grants are awarded on a rolling basis.
The Reporting Award
The Reporting Award from New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute provides up to $12,500 to support a significant work of journalism, in any medium, on an under-reported subject in the public interest.
Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism
This fellowship from The Carter Center provides recipients with a $10,000 stipend to support reporting on a mental health topic of their choice. The center also trains fellows on effective mental health reporting.
USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism National Fellowship
This one-week fellowship in July prepares accepted journalists to report a major enterprise health or social well-being project. The project should focus on social and economic inequities and systemic racism and exclusion and their impact on health. Fellows receive reporting grants of $2,000-$10,000 and four months of professional mentorship following the five day in-person learning intensive.
Latest for Freelancers
Explore More for Freelancers
Health journalism saves lives.
Everyone should have access to quality health care information so they can make informed decisions. Join AHCJ today for exclusive access to training and education to inform your community.