AI Reporting Grants

This grant is open to journalists worldwide. We particularly welcome applications from the Global South and seek reporting from Africa, Latin America and South and South East Asia.

Staff and freelance journalists are eligible. This grant is open to journalists worldwide. Within a week of your submission, you should receive a confirmation of receipt. Typically applications that are received in a given month receive a response by the end of the following month, with an emphasis on making Pulitzer Center projects as timely and newsworthy as possible. If your proposal requires immediate attention, please note why in your 250-word description. If your proposal involves reporting in a hostile or dangerous environment, we require that you and your potential outlets adhere strictly to the ACOS Alliance principles outlined here. Freelancers who plan to report from conflict zones or hostile environments must have a firm assignment from a news organization that will assume full responsibility for his/her well-being. The Pulitzer Center is committed to support for Hostile Environment Training where appropriate. If your project involves reporting in a hostile or dangerous environment, we do require that you and your potential outlets adhere strictly to the ACOS Alliance principles outlined here. If you are a freelancer and you plan to report from a conflict zone or hostile environment, you must have a firm assignment from a news organization that will assume full responsibility for your well-being. It also helps if you have taken a recognized hostile environment training course. Over the last two years, the Pulitzer Center has been able cover the costs of training for more than 40 freelancers.

1. A description of the proposed project in no more than 250 words (you can also attach a longer project description or reporting plan as “Additional Materials”); A preliminary budget estimate, including a basic breakdown of costs; A compelling distribution plan
2. Please review our grant application guidelines and apply today. We accept grant proposals on a rolling basis.
3. If you have specific questions about applying, please contact [email protected].
4. Additional official application requirements
5. The application form asks for a rough budget estimate for your project. Our grants cover the hard costs of getting to the story and reporting it—airfare, hotels, meals, local ground transportation, records requests costs, data analysis/visualization costs, local reporting partners, or assistants, translators, etc. We expect you to try to keep your costs down. Don't even think of flying business class. Don't plan on spending a month when two weeks will suffice. You don't have to stay in the cheapest fleabag hotel in town, but don't go overboard in the other direction. We recognize the importance of finding a good local reporting partner for some stories, but good doesn't necessarily mean the most expensive. Shop around, compare prices, check with other correspondents. In other words, don't think of us as an ATM. We are not. If you work for a newsroom, university, or similar, please note that we do not allow overhead or indirect expenses in our budgets. We are a modest non-profit that has to go out and raise every dollar that we give to you. WHAT WE DON'T FUND To save our grantees and staff time, we thought it would be helpful to outline editorial products and project expenses we don’t fund: 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. Still have questions? Please email [email protected]. Apply Now Frequently Asked Questions
6. A thorough publication plan. Letters of interest or commitment from editors and news outlets should be included.
7. A preliminary budget estimate, including a basic breakdown of costs. Travel grants cover hard costs associated with the reporting; please do not include stipends for the applicants. Local reporting partner/translator/driver fees are acceptable.
8. Applications may also include a more detailed description of project but this will be considered as optional supplement only. The most important part of the submission is the 250-word summary. Applications must be written in English.
9. Within a week of your submission, you should receive a confirmation of receipt. Typically applications that are received in a given month receive a response by the end of the following month, with an emphasis on making Pulitzer Center projects as timely and newsworthy as possible. If your proposal requires immediate attention, please note why in your 250-word description. If your proposal involves reporting in a hostile or dangerous environment, we require that you and your potential outlets adhere strictly to the ACOS Alliance principles outlined here. Freelancers who plan to report from conflict zones or hostile environments must have a firm assignment from a news organization that will assume full responsibility for his/her well-being. The Pulitzer Center is committed to support for Hostile Environment Training where appropriate.
10. One of our primary goals is to get the journalism we support before the broadest possible audience. That's why our online application form requires you to provide us with a plan for distributing your work. If you're on staff—great—your employer will publish or broadcast your stories. But if possible, we'd like you to think beyond your own outlet to other platforms that might be interested in your reporting. In the past we've had staffers at newspapers contribute reports to local public radio stations and national magazines. This is a great way to showcase the original reporting of your newspaper.
11. Life is tougher for freelancers. We can provide some help and advice, but it's mainly up to you to contact outlets and persuade editors that your story idea is worthwhile and they should run it. We know it can be difficult—sometimes near impossible—to get a rock-solid assignment from an outlet, but you must at least try to get some expression of genuine interest that we can corroborate. In most cases, we expect you to have obtained expressions of interest from more than one outlet. A credible distribution plan is key to a successful application.
12. If your project involves reporting in a hostile or dangerous environment, we do require that you and your potential outlets adhere strictly to the ACOS Alliance principles outlined here. If you are a freelancer and you plan to report from a conflict zone or hostile environment, you must have a firm assignment from a news organization that will assume full responsibility for your well-being. It also helps if you have taken a recognized hostile environment training course. Over the last two years, the Pulitzer Center has been able cover the costs of training for more than 40 freelancers.
13. The application form asks for a rough budget estimate for your project. Our grants cover the hard costs of getting to the story and reporting it—airfare, hotels, meals, local ground transportation, records requests costs, data analysis/visualization costs, local reporting partners, or assistants, translators, etc. We expect you to try to keep your costs down. Don't even think of flying business class. Don't plan on spending a month when two weeks will suffice. You don't have to stay in the cheapest fleabag hotel in town, but don't go overboard in the other direction. We recognize the importance of finding a good local reporting partner for some stories, but good doesn't necessarily mean the most expensive. Shop around, compare prices, check with other correspondents. In other words, don't think of us as an ATM. We are not. If you work for a newsroom, university, or similar, please note that we do not allow overhead or indirect expenses in our budgets. We are a modest non-profit that has to go out and raise every dollar that we give to you.
14. Staff salaries (with the exception of some of our yearlong fellowships)
15. The AI Accountability Network is funded with the support of the Open Society Foundations (OSF), Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, Luminate, and individual donors and foundations who support our work more broadly. WHAT WE DON'T FUND To save our grantees and staff time, we thought it would be helpful to outline editorial products and project expenses we don’t fund: 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 (with the exception of some of our yearlong fellowships) 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 campaigns Data projects aimed solely at academic research. Data should be developed to enhance/support journalism. APPLY NOW
16. To save our grantees and staff time, we thought it would be helpful to outline editorial products and project expenses we don’t fund: 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 (with the exception of some of our yearlong fellowships) 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 campaigns Data projects aimed solely at academic research. Data should be developed to enhance/support journalism.