The Pulitzer Center seeks applications for enterprise and underreported stories about global health inequities and challenges. We’re interested in ambitious projects about systemic barriers to all sorts of care, as well as promising research, treatment advances, or emerging health threats that merit investigation.  Crucially, we’re also interested in how massive cuts in U.S. global health aid and other support are unfolding on the ground, globally, and in the U.S.  How will health access and efforts to reduce disease and deaths be affected? What about preparation for future pandemics, health threats linked to climate change, war, or other events? This competitive opportunity is open to text, broadcast, and multimedia newsrooms and freelance journalists in the U.S. and worldwide.  Freelancers should seek strong interest and ultimately a commitment to publish from a trusted outlet. We are also open to solid plans for reporting collaborations and publishing by multiple outlets. More details below: 

How to Apply
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GLOBAL GRANT SPECIFICS

Reporting on global health and health science can be expensive, complex, and challenging for staff and freelance journalists. The Center provides a rare opportunity for journalists to apply for support to take on these stories. For example:

  • We have a specific opportunity for grants to fund international travel or extra help to produce global health stories for U.S. local, regional, and state-level outlets.  Journalists might want to travel to a particular country because a story there has a local tie or is otherwise of strong interest to the outlet’s audience.

  • Grants are also available for global health stories for national U.S. outlets, with extra consideration if a local, regional, or state outlet agrees to also publish stories. 

  • Grants are also available for journalists worldwide to pursue ambitious global health stories to be published in well-established, trustworthy outlets in any country. 

    • For inspiration, here are some recent projects we supported that were published in outlets in the U.S. and in other countries. 

    India

    Africa 

    Latin America 

    United States

    This opportunity is made possible by the Gates Foundation, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, and other funders and donors who support the Pulitzer Center's mission.

    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.

    Proposals should include detailed distribution plans and letters of commitment from outlets where the stories will be published. The Pulitzer Center also encourages creative forms of content distribution and audience engagement beyond story publication. If you have ideas and strategies for engaging diverse audiences with your reporting project, please include them in our proposal submission form.

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

    We accept grant proposals on a rolling basis. Please refer to "Tips for a Successful Pulitzer Center Grant Application" for more information on how to apply.

    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 startups
    • 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 Pulitzer Center Senior Editor Susan Ferriss at [email protected] or Steve Sapienza at [email protected].

    We check emails daily and look forward to hearing from you.

    APPLY NOW