Freelance Writer, Journalist & Pitch Call Watch

Why this is recommended

A $1 a word call at an outlet that just opened to pitches, a magazine that cut its freelance budget the week the writer was about to pitch, a $10,000 reporting grant, or a contract change that takes all rights are each worth more than the membership, and they are announced in newsletters and Slack channels the Tab reads.

What the Tab covers

Who it is for

The freelance writers, reporters and editors who earn by the piece, and the staff writers about to become them.

When it runs

Editors post calls and rate changes early in the week; pitches go out on Tuesdays

Scope

Calls for pitches and submission windows at outlets paying $250 or more per piece; rate cards, payment terms and kill fees; closures, layoffs and freelance budget changes at outlets with 100,000 or more readers; contract, rights and AI training clause changes; Pulitzer Center, Fund for Investigative Journalism, IWMF, Economic Hardship Reporting Project, Knight, Nieman and other grants and fellowships; press credential, shield law and FOIA changes; publisher AI content policies; Freelance Isn't Free enforcement and late payment actions; union and guild rate agreements

Suggested task

The objective your Tab starts with. You can edit every line of it once the Tab is yours.

Calls for pitches and open submission windows at paying outlets with rates and deadlines, rate card and payment term changes, outlet closures, layoffs and freelance budget cuts, freelance contract and rights grab changes, journalism grants, fellowships and reporting funds, press credential and shield law changes, AI content policy changes at publishers, late payment and kill fee enforcement and union rate agreements, with the outlet or program first and the rate in the title.

Track paid opportunities and conditions for US freelance writers and journalists. Report only confirmed, source-backed items from the last 7 days: calls for pitches and open submission windows at outlets paying $250 or more per piece, with the rate, the topic and the deadline; rate card, payment term and kill fee changes; closures, layoffs and freelance budget cuts at outlets with 100,000 or more readers; freelance contract, rights and AI training clause changes; journalism grants, fellowships and reporting funds with deadlines within 45 days from the Pulitzer Center, the Fund for Investigative Journalism, IWMF, the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, Knight, Nieman and similar funders; press credential, shield law and FOIA rule changes; publisher AI content and disclosure policy changes; Freelance Isn't Free and late payment enforcement actions; and union and guild rate agreements. Prefer outlet submission pages, editor announcements, funder pages, union statements, court and agency documents and established media reporting; ignore content-mill listings and unverified rate claims. Put the outlet or program first in the title with the rate or amount and the deadline. Use high severity for a call closing within 7 days at an outlet paying $1 a word or more, a grant of $10,000 or more, or a closure or budget cut at a major outlet. Return no more than 8 findings. Push each as a finding with a title, a two-sentence summary, sections for what is open or changed, the rate, how to pitch or apply, the deadline, and the source link. If nothing qualifies, push nothing and submit the run receipt.