Bringing Stories Home is the Pulitzer Center's initiative designed to help local U.S. newsrooms cover the big, underreported stories that affect us all—and through education and other outreach promote the public engagement that is essential if our democracy is to thrive.

GRANT OVERVIEW

News outlets eligible for participation in Bringing Stories Home include all those serving local U.S. communities. The Pulitzer Center is already actively working with partner outlets in many cities, from Milwaukee to Louisville to Tucson to St. Louis. Bringing Stories Home represents a major investment in local news, providing resources to cover stories that might not otherwise get told.

You decide what underreported stories your community needs to engage with, and we support that reporting and champion it, including creating educational materials and organizing events to expand the reach of your stories and the conversation about them.

We value data, investigative, and accountability journalism projects that tackle systemic issues and hold to account powerful local figures. For inspiration, here are a few recent stories we supported through the Bringing Stories Home initiative:

TO APPLY, YOU WILL BE ASKED TO PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING:

  • A description of the proposed project in no more than 250 words
  • A preliminary budget estimate, including a basic breakdown of costs 
  • A compelling distribution plan

We aim to support teams that reflect the communities they report on. We hope Bringing Stories Home can help our partner organizations advance their diversity, equity, and inclusion goals and commitments.

We accept grant proposals on a rolling basis. Our editorial team meets regularly to review the proposals we receive. Freelancers are eligible for Bringing Stories Home grants as long as they publish their stories in U.S. local outlets. If you have any questions about the application process, please email us at [email protected].

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Who is eligible to apply?

This opportunity is open to U.S. residents and journalists around the world.  We are open to proposals from freelance journalists, staff journalists, or groups of newsrooms working in collaboration with a project idea. We want to make sure that people from many backgrounds and perspectives are empowered to produce journalism. We strongly encourage proposals from journalists and newsrooms who represent a broad array of social, racial, ethnic, underrepresented groups, and economic backgrounds.

When will you be notifying applicants on whether they've been selected?

We begin reviewing applications as soon as they are received and typically notify applicants within a month if they're being considered for support.  If there is some urgency to the field reporting, the applicant should state the reason in the application.

What is the budget range for proposals?

We do not have a budget range. We will consider projects of any scope and size, and we are open to supporting multiple projects each year. 

Do you pay stipends or salaries for freelance journalists?

We expect news organizations to pay freelance journalists for their work, though in exceptional cases, we may consider stipends to cover a reporter's time, if provided in the budget with an explanation.  It is OK to include costs of contractors, such as data researchers, illustrators, or data visualization/story designers in your proposal and budget. Please do not include stipends for journalists/team members who are in the employ of newsrooms or are being paid by a publisher.

What are examples of editorial products or project expenses that the Pulitzer Center grants DON’T cover? 

  • Books (we can support a story that might become part of a book, as long as the story is published independently in a media outlet) 
  • Feature-length films (we do support short documentaries with ambitious distribution plans) 
  • Staff salaries 
  • Equipment purchases (equipment rentals are considered on a case-by-case basis) 
  • An outlet’s general expenses (for example rent, utilities, insurance) 
  • Seed money for start-ups
  • Routine breaking news and coverage 
  • Advocacy/marketing campaigns 
  • Data projects aimed solely at academic research. Data should be developed to enhance/support journalism. 

More questions?

Email us at [email protected]. We check emails daily and look forward to hearing from you.

Support for Bringing Stories Home is provided in part by an unrestricted endowment gift from the Facebook Journalism Project. Support for reporting projects also comes from the Omidyar Network, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the MacArthur Foundation, Humanity United, and other generous donors to the Pulitzer Center.