Pulitzer Center Update July 28, 2026
Call for Applications for U.S. Democracy Reporting Grants
Country:
The Pulitzer Center is offering special grants for reporting on democracy in the United States.
We’re open to ambitious story ideas at this fraught moment in history. Top themes include voting rights, civil and free-speech rights, transparency of elections, and investigations into how federal and state government agencies are carrying out their work. Those welcome to apply include newsroom staff reporters and editors, and freelancers who would work closely with a newsroom committed to editing and publishing a text, multimedia, or broadcast project.
We’re not looking to fund a beat position or routine coverage or work by non-journalists. We are looking to support a big-picture story or a series of stories.
Grants can support travel needs, extra help with the costs for justifiable research, record searches for data analysis, or visual and extra reporting help. We also encourage and can provide grant support for audience engagement initiatives, including events, to strengthen connections and trust with communities.
Efforts to expand distribution and impact of your reporting is important to us. This might include partnering with other outlets across various text or broadcast platforms or social media.
The application deadline for this call-out is August 31, 2026. We will review applications as they come in, so send yours as soon as you have it ready.
You can read a Q&A on applying here, and connect to the application form here.
We don’t review drafts of applications, but if you have questions, you can contact senior editor Susan Ferriss at [email protected].
