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NUJ Rate for the Job:
Words, per 1000 / online
Rates archived as at 2025-07-09
These rates have been reported by members of the National Union of Journalists and others, and printed in the Freelance, newsletter of London Freelance Branch. They are sorted by publisher/publication, then by date (most recent first). TIP: Use the "Find in page" command under your browser's "Edit" or "Search" menu to be sure of finding all occurrences of a publication/publisher. AND do note the year in which the rate was reported! See also the Freelance Fees Guide, which gives general recommendations. And read the disclaimer and the key to exactly what the entries mean.
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In August 2012 we moved rates for online editions of newspapers and magazines into the 'news' or 'mags' listings, as newspapers and magazines integrate print and online. These should be rates for purely-digital publications.
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Tell us what you've been paid for Words, per 1000 / online |
Freelance Fees Guide
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| Publication / Programme - details & terms | Group | Year |  |
Total paid | GR |
XXXX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24HourMuseum website First Web Rights | 2002 |  |
300.00 | |||
| European Cultural Digest | 1998 | |
200.00 | |||
| Guardian blog/opinion language-learning | _GMG | 2013 | |
170.00 | X | |
| Guardian feature language-learning | _GMG | 2013 | |
420.00 | O | |
| Hot News online | 2010 | |
100.00 | X | ||
| Launch, yahoo.com, dotmusic record/gig reviews, 500 words @ £35 (cut from £40) | _Yahoo | 2009 | |
70.00 | XX | |
| Leeds (Leeds University alumni magazine) Features Leeds uni website only | 2011 | |
380.00 | GR | ||
| Legal Updater identify expert; interview; research; write all rights assigned plus indemnity clause | _RE | 2006 | |
170.00 | X | |
| Media resistance (Belgium) Web publication: $1000 for 15k characters) | 2000 | |
260.00 | |||
| Media Resistance (Belgium - ($1000 for 15k characters) | 1999 | |
262.00 | |||
| New Internationalist online feature | 2011 | |
125.00 | XX | ||
| One in Four feaures on mental health issues FBS, additional payment for online use | 2012 | |
100.00 | GR | ||
| Open Mind column (500 words @ £60) no copyright grab | 2012 | |
120.00 | GR | ||
| Science Business web only | 2010 | |
400.00 | |||
| The Ecologist 1600-word feature, first offered £280, negotiated to £330 all rights | 2010 | |
207.00 | X | ||
| The Stool Pigeon news report | 2010 | |
50.00 | XX | ||
| Visual Systems Journal (Matt Publishing - or Bearpark?) Technical articles | 2002 | |
250.00 | |||
| Aol travel pieces - PR facilities | _AOLTW | 2009 | |
0.00 | XXXX | |
| BBC Music online 350 words @ £ 30 = | _BBC | 2012 | |
86.00 | XX | |
| BBC Online licence not specified - they seem to have a payment on publication policy - last time payment took nearly 5 months | _BBC | 2005 | |
218.00 | ||
| BBC website | _BBC | 2010 | |
200.00 | XX | |
| BikeRadar.com news online, all rights | _Future | 2010 | |
150.00 | XXX | |
| blueyonder.co.uk 300 word film review @ £125 = | _TeleW | 2006 | |
417.00 | O | |
| C4 Music website First Online rights | _C4 | 2005 | |
200.00 | ||
| Channel 4 programme support booklets + web material, per 1000 | _C4 | 2002 | |
275.00 | O | |
| Channel 4 writing for website | _C4 | 2001 | |
250.00 | ||
| Channel 4 website essay for Dispatches - no improvement in years! all rights | _C4 | 2005 | |
275.00 | X | |
| Channel 4 website same rate for 3 years | _C4 | 2005 | |
275.00 | ||
| Channel 4 website | _C4 | 2000 | |
250.00 | ||
| condenet.com $1 a word | _CondN | 2001 | |
690.00 | ||
| Demand Studios web only | 2010 | |
50.00 | XXX | ||
| Digital-Lifestyles.info news articles | 2004 | |
100.00 | X | ||
| earthzine.org 1200 word cyberscience feature @ $1000 = | 2013 |  |
833.00 | O | ||
| emusic.com 200-word review @ £100 (up from $pound;75 for a nominal 150 words, in practice was 200) | 2009 | |
500.00 | |||
| emusic.com short features 700-1000 words , all rights | 2009 | |
250.00 | GR | ||
| emusic.com album reviews , all rights | 2009 | |
500.00 | GR | ||
| EMusic.com 250+ word album review for £150 All rights | 2007 | |
600.00 | O | ||
| emusic.com short features 700-1000 words, all rights | 2000 | |
350.00 | GR | ||
| ESPNSoccernet | _Disney | 2008 | |
100.00 | ||
| Film4 website 1800 words for £200 = | _C4 | 2006 | |
111.00 | XXX | |
| FirstPersonGlobal all rights | 2002 | |
300.00 | |||
| Forty Fourth Publishing arts reviews for new as yet unnamed website: 500 words @ £100 | 2011 | |
200.00 | X | ||
| Forty Fourth Publishing arts reviews for new as-yet-unnamed website: 800 words @ £200 | 2011 | |
250.00 | |||
| Freeserve websites feature article | 2002 | |
285.00 | |||
| Google music reviews all rights, heavy indemnity clauses | _Google | 2013 | |
150.00 | XX | |
| Google music reviews all rights, heavy indemnity clauses | _Google | 2013 | |
200.00 | XX | |
| Guardian Networks (IT support section) all rights - contrary to house agreement? | 2012 | |
300.00 | |||
| Handbag.com Features | 2003 | |
300.00 | |||
| icircle.com (freeserve.co.uk) feature All rights | 2003 | |
200.00 | X | ||
| ideastap.com | 2009 | |
350.00 | X | ||
| Improvement and Development Agency feature writing no terms specified | _HMG | 2002 | |
200.00 | ||
| Institute for War and Peace Reporting | 2002 | |
75.00 | |||
| Intelfax content for UK Foreign Office websites no exes! | 2002 | |
125.00 | |||
| justfornurses.co.uk feature writing, 700 words @ £300, no terms specified | 2002 | |
450.00 | GR | O | |
| Knowledge@Wharton.edu 1500-word feature web only | 2010 | |
667.00 | GR | O | |
| MSN (Microsoft) all rights, no expenses, no tax at source | 2013 | |
1000.00 | GR | O | |
| MSN Travel 2500 - 3000 word piece all rights | 2010 | |
200.00 | GR | ||
| MSN website all rights | 2010 | |
200.00 | GR | X | |
| Music website re-use of old print article online | 2009 | |
500.00 | |||
| Music website re-use of old print article online | 2009 | |
75.00 | |||
| new website travel | _NI | 2000 | |
300.00 | ||
| NHS website copy | _HMG | 2008 | |
200.00 | X | |
| opendemocracy.net 1000-word column | 2006 | |
100.00 | X | ||
| OpenDemocracy.org retained copyright | 2004 | |
0.00 | |||
| Oxford Analytica | 2011 | |
225.00 | |||
| pinke.biz | 2009 | |
50.00 | XX | ||
| Project Maverick (I-Pad app magazine) feature | _Virgin | 2010 | |
500.00 | O | |
| Search Sciences LLP www.searchsciences.co.uk 1000 word articles to a brief | 2013 | |
10.00 | XXXX | ||
| Snack Media (complained of by Roy Greenslade on his Guardian blog | 2011 | |
10.00 | XXXX | ||
| Snowsports websites online content management day (7 hours) | 2011 | |
120.00 | XX | ||
| Soccernet all rights | _Disney | 2007 | |
100.00 | X | |
| Suite101.de 1000 word articles for Web use only: offered €0.00 plus 50% of revenue from Google Ad-click, if any. Turned down! | 2009 | |
0.00 | XX | ||
| TeacherNet web feature | _HMG | 2004 | |
244.00 | ||
| theregister.co.uk | 2003 | |
250.00 | |||
| thewriter.com | 2012 | |
300.00 | |||
| Think Africa Press plus £10 for a photo all rights | 2013 | |
150.00 | XX | ||
| TotalJobs.com 600-word features @ £100 all rights, pay only on publication and no guarantee of publication; member 'thanks but no thanks' | _RBI | 2010 | |
167.00 | ||
| Travel copywriting company country / sports guides | 2010 | |
25.00 | XXXX | ||
| Virgin Media website entertainment features, 500 words @ £125 first world online rights (FWOR) by default (no rights specified) | _Virgin | 2010 | |
250.00 | ||
| Website short articles for site yet to go online , all rights | 2010 | |
15.00 | XXX | ||
| Website for a national charity 12 monthly articles, each £130 for 800 words web use indefinitely | 2005 | |
162.50 | |||
| Wellcome Trust MOSAIC - 'flu research licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 | 2013 | |
600.00 | O | ||
| Writing about business writing commissioned article | 2013 | |
150.00 | |||
| www.parentdish.co.uk all rights | _AOL | 2013 | |
100.00 | GR | XX |
| Yahoo | _Yahoo | 2012 | |
333.00 | ||
| yahoo.com re-use of blog articles in online archive - net to freelance is $150 from gross payment of | _yahoo | 2008 | |
310.00 | ||
| Key to the rates, by column: |
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| 1 Publication / Programme, any details of work and licence | ||||||
| 2 Owner at the time the rate was reported, where known | Group | |||||
| 3 The year in which the rate was reported | Year |
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4 Currency: either or  or (US) | |
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| 5 Amount paid (total of basic licence and extra licences for web use, database resale...) | Amount |
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| 7 "Going Rate" according to experienced NUJ members - do try to better it: | GR |
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| or Minimum rate set out in NUJ House Agreement: | HA |
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| 8 Underpaid, in the fallible opinion of the Freelance editor: | | 50.00 | X |
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| or Just sometimes we're pleasantly surprised: | | 1500.00 | O |
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These are archived rates. Other rates:
| Type of work: | In the "sector": (click or tap below!) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Words, per 1000 | News | Local | Mag | online | Book | PR | Other |
| Words, other | News | Local | Mag | online | Book | PR | Other |
| Photography | News | Local | Mag | online | Book | PR | Other |
| Broadcasting | News | Local | Other including podcasting | ||||
| Shifts | News | Local | Mag | online | Book | PR | Other |
| Other: | Cartoons | Crosswords | Illustration | Punditry | Retainer | Teaching | Tip-off | Translation | ||||||
| Recently reported rates | all from the past few months |
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Have better rates? Submit them (we won't tell it was you)
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