MedPage Today Freelance Market Guide
Created January 5, 2022; revised Nov. 14, 2023.
Fees: This digital news outlet negotiates fees based on the nature of the article and the experience of the writer. Articles range in length from 800 to 1,000 words.
Submit to: mpt_editorial@everydayhealth.com
Website: www.medpagetoday.com
Owner: Everyday Health Group
Readership demographics: The target audience is physicians and other health professionals such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants. “We are looking for articles that impact the daily practice of medicine,” said Joyce Frieden, MedPage Today Washington editor and AHCJ board member.
Frequency of publication: The website is updated daily.
What they look for in a pitch: “Basically, our two types of stories are clinical stories and health policy,” Frieden said. An example of a clinical story might be a controversy about a new surgical technique’s cost and effectiveness, she said. MedPage Today sometimes looks to freelancers to cover clinical medical meetings. A policy story might be some new policy regarding Medicare or Medicaid in a freelancer’s state.
And freelancers can pitch stories about the latest research. “If you are going to pitch a research study, if it is a drug trial, it has to be Phase III, and it has to be a large enough trial. We are not interested in mouse studies or in vitro studies,” Frieden said. She also recommended pitching research studies published in journals that the MedPage Today staff might not check regularly. “For example, we’ve seen the main pediatrics journal, but we may not always look at a pediatric dermatology journal.”
For the pitch email, Frieden said writers should introduce themselves and provide a nut graph explaining what the story is and why it would work for MedPage Today readers. Include links to clips and a resume.
Most common mistakes the editor sees with pitches: “The most common mistake is that the pitch is not directed at our audience, that it’s a consumer pitch,” Frieden said.
Lead time for pitching: For a feature, lead time would be about a month. The lead time for an embargoed journal article would be a week or two.
Do editors accept pre-pitches: Yes, because that way editors can make sure MedPage hasn’t previously covered the topic, said Frieden.
Best place for a freelancer to break into the publication: Pitching a story about a clinical development might be the best place to start “because doing those types of stories is usually more of a formula,” Frieden said. She advised writers to take a good look at those kinds of stories on the website before crafting a pitch.