If I had a quarter for every time someone said the word ‘unprecedented’ in the past three months, I could probably pay my rent. Times are not like they were, but freelancers are resilient! Here are some tips if you're feeling stuck in a rut:

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Get Connected: Now is the perfect time to build your journalism community online and in person! Joining a freelancer-focussed social media group, chatting with your colleagues in our IIJ Slack channel, or attending in-person events, conferences, or workshops are all great ways to find camaraderie and support among your peers.

Be Inspired: Look to your fellow freelancer's work to find inspiration for your own projects. Journalists like Alan Henry, Gil Asakawa, Fin Leary, Chris Gayomali, Lisa Kwon and others featured on The Freelance Journalism Podcast are excellent sources of inspiration! (Psst, scroll down for a NEW episode, out today!)

Learn a New Skill: Keep an eye out for chances to build new skills, or brush up on old ones. Like this WIRED guide to getting set up on the secure messaging app Signal. Or this free webinar and tip sheet from The Journalist Resource about covering immigration in this day and age.

You got this!

James

LAST CALL: early bird rates for Freelance Business Workshop at NAHJ!

Time is running out to take advantage of early bird registration for our Freelancing Business Workshop during the National Association of Hispanic Journalists conference on July 12 in Chicago! Join IIJ leaders Katherine Reynolds Lewis and Valeria Fernández for a full day of learning and community in the windy city this summer.

Whether you are just starting your business or need a fresh look, this all-day, in-person workshop is an excellent way to connect with your peers, work through your challenges with expert guidance, and to take your freelancing to the next level.

If you attend the NAHJ conference, the workshop is included in your conference registration, but you must register before space runs out. To sign up for the workshop, please forward your NAHJ conference registration to [email protected] and remember to pay $25 if you’d like to join for lunch.

March 31 is the last day for non-conference attendees to register at the early bird rate of $48! Register here!

March 31 is also the last day for early bird registration to the NAHJ conference!

Cybersecurity Pitches Wanted!

In the latest episode of The Freelance Journalism Podcast, Alan Henry, managing editor for PCMag, talks with IIJ leader Shernay Williams about the pitches he wants from freelancers right now, including cybersecurity features and reviews for VPNs and antivirus products.

They also discuss Henry's career journey and the inspiration behind his 2022 book, "Seen, Heard and Paid: New Work Rules for the Marginalized," an in-depth look at gender roles in the office and corporate standards for people of color. Listen to the new episode here!

Listen Now!

Last Chance to Access Exclusive Content!

Hurry, time is running out to access the IIJ 2025 Conference recordings! Did you miss out on the live conference? For just $99, replay all of the thought-provoking conversations from our all-star lineup of speakers, including keynote speakers Celeste Headlee, host of Hear Me Out, and Gina Chua, executive editor at Semafor; along with Julianne Escobedo-Shepherd, co-founder and editor of Hearing Things; Sari Botton, author and creator of Oldster and Memoirland; career coaches Phoebe Gavin and Melinda Emerson; and editors from National Geographic, Noēma Magazine, Slate and more!

Also included: newly added pitch guides to publications including Bloomberg Pursuits, Bon Appétit, Runner’s World, the New York Times, and more! But you only have until March 31 to get access!

Don't Miss Out!

Pitch Calls and Ops

🔍 Apply for IRE Conference Funding

Investigative Reporters and Editors offers a wealth of scholarships and fellowships to help journalists attend their conferences and trainings. Applicants can apply for financial assistance to pay your registration to the IRE annual conference in June or the R-CAR data journalism boot camp in August. Assistance also includes a one-year IRE membership. Learn more about these funding opportunities and apply via IRE’s common app here.

✨ Palestinian Freelancers: Write for Islamic Horizons

Bareerah Zafar, assistant editor for Islamic Horizons, is looking to add Palestinian freelancers to her reporting pool. Those who are interested should send their resumes and 2-3 work samples to [email protected]. 💰 Rates start at 20 cents a word.

🐖 Write about How the Sausage is Made for Sentient

Sentient, a non-profit newsroom covering factory farming and its effects on the world, is always looking for pitches. Topics of interest include food, agriculture, science, climate, environment, health, and policy. Sentient primarily seeks accountability journalism, solutions journalism, explainers, and the “science of” stories. 💰 Rates start at $300. Learn more and pitch here.

👨‍🌾 Barn Raiser Wants your Small Town Stories

Barn Raiser is seeking contributors interested in writing on topics that affect rural and small-town America. While they’re open to anything, they are particularly interested in stories about corporate accountability, antitrust action, local activism, and censorship. Barn Raiser is an independent publication that aims to inform diverse small towns and rural areas. 💰 Pay is $500 for reported stories and $200 for opinion pieces. Email [email protected] for more information and to pitch. Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis.

🌆 Fellowship for Civic Reporting In Chicago

The City Bureau’s civic reporting fellowships offer early career journalists the opportunity to report on Chicago’s communities of color. Over 16 weeks, fellows will produce multimedia reportingthat focuses on community engagement and leadership in BIPOC communities. 💰 Fellows earn a $6,000 stipend. Apply here by March 30.

📻 Dial up your Audio Reporting with the LA Radio Club

The Spring LA Radio Club reporting incubator allows reporters based in Southern California to develop their short-form audio storytelling skills. Those selected will go through a four-week program to produce, record, and edit five-minute audio documentaries which will be distributed across several media outlets. Pitches should focus on hyper-local stories in SoCal. 💰 Reporters receive a $250 stipend. Applications are due this Friday, March 28.

🤝 Free Webinar: Reporting on Domestic Violence

Join The Pivot Fund and the Blue Shield Foundation for a virtual webinar on domestic violence reporting on Thursday, April 3, from 1 to 2:30 ET. Participants will learn how to use the Blue Shield Foundation's new playbook, which covers how to incorporate sensitivity, inclusivity, and expertise when reporting on domestic violence through a solutions-oriented lens. There are only eight spots left in the webinar. Reserve your place here.

🔧 Award: Writing on Politics and the Working Class

Nominate yourself or a colleague to the Daniel Singer Foundation Awards. This award honors one author who covered how the far right rose in popularity among the working class. Articles must have been published in 2024 and be at least 8,000 words long. Nominations must include at least a 500-word essay on why the work deserves the award.💰 The winner gets $10,000. Submissions due April 1.

Interesting Reads

📖 In honor of Sunshine Week, WIRED took down its paywall on stories that rely on information gained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. “We commend WIRED for tipping the balance that all for-profit media outlets must strike between public interest and business more toward the public interest. We hope others will follow its lead.” writes The Freedom of the Press Foundation.

📖 In this Columbia Journalism Review article, Sarah Stonbely explores how audiences are increasingly turning to non-traditional sources of news: social media, civil society organizations or so-called “newsfluencers.” “There is now a broader willingness to consider – or perhaps, more accurately, to see – the myriad other ways that people share and receive important local information and news.” she writes.

📖 Substack is becoming an increasingly popular place for those looking for new venues for their journalistic work: “Substack has escaped its humble newsletter beginnings to become a juggernaut collective of independent voices.” writes Charlotte Klein in this New York Magazine Intelligencer article.

Calendar

📆 TODAY! Tuesday, March 25 - Catch the NEW episode of the Freelance Journalism Podcast, featuring Alan Henry, managing editor of PCMag and author of the book Seen, Heard and Paid: The New Work Rules for The Marginalized.

📆 SAVE THE DATE: Thursday and Friday, May 15 to May 16- IIJ will present at the Collaborative Journalism Summit in Denver, Colorado! Join IIJ editorial director Ann Marie Awad, freelance audio journalist Ruxandra Guidi, and Emily Lytle from the Reynolds Journalism Institute for a session on building sustainable collaborations with freelancers.

📆 Saturday, July 12 at 8:30 a.m. CT - The IIJ is hosting a full-day Freelance Business Workshop at the 2025 National Association of Hispanic Journalists Conference and Expo in Chicago! Early bird registration for NAHJ (July 8-12) is now open.