![[Freelance]](../gif/ratesH.png)
![[NUJ.LFB]](../gif/nujsma.gif "[Go to NUJ.LFB home page]")
NUJ Rate for the Job:
Words, other / news
Updated: 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.
|
Work for which we have no rate-per-thousand-words, whose primary use is in a national newspaper. See also regional papers. If you are interested, the archived rates are here. | ||||||
Tell us what you've been paid for Words, other / news |
Freelance Fees Guide
|
|||||
| Publication / Programme - details & terms | Group | Year |  |
Total paid | GR |
XXXX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| i newspaper around 500 word sports interview with major official | _Johnsto | 2017 |  |
90.00 | GR | XX |
| Al Jazeera photo story 500 words (via #FreelancerPayGap) | 2020 |  |
400.00 | |||
| Byline Times opinion piece | 2024 | |
150.00 | X | ||
| Christian Science Monitor 900 word web piece @ $300 = | 2017 | |
333.00 | |||
| Daily Express column stick - rates paid to agency freelances by nationals, according to Jon Harris, chair of National Association of Press Agencies and managing director of news agency Cavendish Press, quoted in Press Gazette £40 to £90. | _TMG | 2022 | |
60.00 | GR | XX |
| Daily Herald high school sports 400-600 words (via #FreelancerPayGap) | 2020 | |
50.00 | |||
| Daily Mail Scotland page lead. Rates paid to agency freelances by nationals, according to Jon Harris, chair of National Association of Press Agencies and managing director of news agency Cavendish Press, quoted in Press Gazette | _Assoc | 2022 | |
120.00 | XXX | |
| Daily Mail page lead, according to Jon Harris, the chairman of the National Association of Press Agencies and managing director of Manchester-based news agency Cavendish Press, quoted in Press Gazette - expenses paid | _Assoc | 2022 | |
150.00 | XXXX | |
| Daily Mail "column stick" (13 ems = approx 55mm wide) - £40 to £75 per column stick | _Assoc | 2022 | |
40.00 | XX | |
| Daily Mail feature, full-page | _Assoc | 2020 | |
800.00 | O | |
| Daily Mail Max Hastings column, each (according to Private Eye) - | _Assoc | 2018 | |
3000.00 | ||
| Daily Mail Online article, length unspecified | _Assoc | 2016 | |
350.00 | ||
| Daily Mirror column stick - rates paid to agency freelances by nationals, according to Jon Harris, chair of National Association of Press Agencies and managing director of news agency Cavendish Press, quoted in Press Gazette - column sticks £35 to £65, column is 13 m-dash characters wide | _TMG | 2022 | |
65.00 | XX | |
| Daily Mirror column stick - rates paid to agency freelances by nationals, according to Jon Harris, chair of National Association of Press Agencies and managing director of news agency Cavendish Press, quoted in Press Gazette - column sticks £35 to £65, column is 13 m-dash characters wide | _TMG | 2022 | |
35.00 | XX | |
| Daily Star page lead - rates paid to agency freelances by nationals, according to Jon Harris, chair of National Association of Press Agencies and managing director of news agency Cavendish Press, quoted in Press Gazette | _TMG | 2022 | |
120.00 | GR | XXX |
| Daily Star small column stick - rates paid to agency freelances by nationals, according to Jon Harris, chair of National Association of Press Agencies and managing director of news agency Cavendish Press, quoted in Press Gazette | _TMG | 2022 | |
20.00 | GR | XX |
| Daily Star large column stick - rates paid to agency freelances by nationals, according to Jon Harris, chair of National Association of Press Agencies and managing director of news agency Cavendish Press, quoted in Press Gazette - £30 to £60 per large column stick | _TMG | 2022 | |
30.00 | GR | XX |
| Daily Star NIB (News In Brief) item rates paid to agency freelances by nationals, according to Jon Harris, chair of National Association of Press Agencies and managing director of news agency Cavendish Press, quoted in Press Gazette | _TMG | 2022 | |
10.00 | GR | XX |
| Daily Telegraph column stick, 200+ words - rates paid to agency freelances by nationals, according to Jon Harris, chair of National Association of Press Agencies and managing director of news agency Cavendish Press, quoted in Press Gazette - £35 to £75 words depending on length | _BarcB | 2022 | |
35.00 | GR | XX |
| Daily Telegraph column stick, less than 200 words - rates paid to agency freelances by nationals, according to Jon Harris, chair of National Association of Press Agencies and managing director of news agency Cavendish Press, quoted in Press Gazette - £25 to £35 | _BarcB | 2022 | |
35.00 | XX | |
| Daily Telegraph page lead - rates paid to agency freelances by nationals, according to Jon Harris, chair of National Association of Press Agencies and managing director of news agency Cavendish Press, quoted in Press Gazette | _BarcB | 2022 | |
110.00 | GR | XXXX |
| Daily Telegraph column stick, 200+ words - rates paid to agency freelances by nationals, according to Jon Harris, chair of National Association of Press Agencies and managing director of news agency Cavendish Press, quoted in Press Gazette - £35 to £75 words depending on length | _BarcB | 2022 | |
75.00 | GR | XX |
| Daily Telegraph column stick, less than 200 words - rates paid to agency freelances by nationals, according to Jon Harris, chair of National Association of Press Agencies and managing director of news agency Cavendish Press, quoted in Press Gazette - £25 to £35 | _BarcB | 2022 | |
25.00 | XX | |
| El Mundo per online piece of any length | 2015 | |
35.00 | XXX | ||
| Financial Times Round-up property article with sourcing of images | _Nikkei | 2021 | |
250.00 | O | |
| Guardian commissioned blog post or Pick of the Day - house agreement rate | _GMG | 2025 | |
102.50 | HA | |
| Guardian front page lead - rate for regional agencies specified in document dated 13/12/2011 and still referenced online | _GMG | 2024 | |
220.00 | XXX | |
| Guardian page 3 lead - rate for regional agencies specified in document dated 13/12/2011 and still referenced online | _GMG | 2024 | |
200.00 | XXX | |
| Guardian other page lead - rate for regional agencies specified in document dated 13/12/2011 and still referenced online | _GMG | 2024 | |
150.00 | XXX | |
| Guardian down-page story - rate for regional agencies specified in document dated 13/12/2011 and still referenced online | _GMG | 2024 | |
50.00 | XXXX | |
| Guardian secondary page lead - rate for regional agencies specified in document dated 13/12/2011 and still referenced online | _GMG | 2024 | |
100.00 | XXX | |
| Guardian on farm animal welfare topics, length unspecified | _GMG | 2020 | |
200.00 | ||
| Guardian The Long Read 3000 - 4000 words | _GMG | 2018 | |
2500.00 | ||
| Guardian The Long Read 3000 - 4000 words - expenses paid | _GMG | 2018 | |
4000.00 | O | |
| Guardian Australia opinion (blog) AU$ 328 each = | _GMG | 2025 | |
166.00 | HA | |
| Guardian Long Read 5000 words of in-depth reporting | _GMG | 2018 | |
2500.00 | ||
| Guardian USA blog post | _GMG | 2025 | |
150.00 | HA | |
| i newspaper sports feature 900 words around - | _Johnsto | 2018 | |
110.00 | ||
| i newspaper match report 800 words not football - | _Johnsto | 2018 | |
100.00 | ||
| i newspaper small exclusive for sports pages, not football - | _Johnsto | 2018 | |
130.00 | ||
| i newspaper 400-word quotes-led sports story from foreign capital @ £60 = | _Johnsto | 2017 | |
150.00 | ||
| i newspaper sports news writing (website only) | _Johnsto | 2017 | |
50.00 | GR | |
| i newspaper Press conference write-up FBS | _Johnsto | 2017 | |
100.00 | GR | |
| i newspaper 370-word sports piece, negotiated up from £80 FBS | _Johnsto | 2017 | |
90.00 | ||
| Independent obituaries | _INM | 2021 | |
65.00 | XXX | |
| Independent Writing one obituary | _Lebedev | 2021 | |
65.00 | GR | XXX |
| Independent op-ed up to (via #FreelancerPayGap) | _Lebedev | 2020 | |
250.00 | ||
| Irish Examiner book reviewing, licensed First Serial rights | _ITtrust | 2023 |  |
150.00 | X | |
| LA Times* news flat rate (2015) | 2023 | |
300.00 | |||
| Mail on Sunday interview 800-1200 words - told this was a flat fee (via #FreelancerPayGap) | _Assoc | 2020 | |
500.00 | ||
| Mail on Sunday news story | _Assoc | 2016 | |
200.00 | ||
| Mail On Sunday page lead news story | _Assoc | 2015 | |
500.00 | O | |
| Mail Online story - size unspecified | _Assoc | 2025 | |
50.00 | XX | |
| Mail online page lead | _Assoc | 2020 | |
40.00 | XXXX | |
| Mail Online full-page story, length unspecified | _Assoc | 2020 | |
40.00 | XXX | |
| Mail online 'real life' story - made lead on femail second UK serial rights | _Assoc | 2014 | |
40.00 | GR | X |
| Metro find and write up case study, 800 words, source five photos | _Metro | 2025 | |
150.00 | XX | |
| Mirror Friday entertainment section feature (in 2000) | _TMG | 2019 | |
1800.00 | O | |
| Mirror Friday entertainment section feature (in 2018) | _TMG | 2019 | |
800.00 | X | |
| Mirror Online story - size unspecified | _TMG | 2025 | |
100.00 | XX | |
| New European features, print and/or online, 1200-2000 words | __misc | 2021 | |
225.00 | ||
| New York Times online trend piece (via #FreelancerPayGap) | _NYT | 2020 | |
250.00 | ||
| Novara Media per article | 2025 | |
195.00 | GR | ||
| Observer Celebrity Q+A - | _GMG | 2018 | |
250.00 | ||
| Paste magazine TV review (via Freelancer Solidarity Project) | 2023 | |
100.00 | |||
| Private Eye story | 2023 | |
180.00 | |||
| Scottish Daily Mail 16 hours, face-to-face interview, death knock, care dispute, complicated news - none , expenses 60 | _Assoc | 2025 | |
200.00 | GR | XXX |
| Scottish Daily Mail news story, basement / wing | _Assoc | 2024 | |
150.00 | XX | |
| Scottish Sun online Copy (length unspecified) | _NI | 2017 | |
35.00 | X(?) | |
| Shondaland Digital Media author interview (via Freelancer Solidarity Project) | 2023 | |
550.00 | |||
| Sun on Sunday Page lead - | _NI | 2018 | |
500.00 | ||
| Sun 500-word article plus 90 seconds of video - 24 hr exclusive | _NI | 2025 | |
400.00 | X | |
| Sun investigative piece for Sun Money - FBS | _NI | 2024 | |
450.00 | ||
| Sun page lead - rates paid to agency freelances by nationals, according to Jon Harris, chair of National Association of Press Agencies and managing director of news agency Cavendish Press, quoted in Press Gazette - non-exclusive £110, £100 if "small" | _NI | 2022 | |
110.00 | GR | XXXX |
| Sun column stick - rates paid to agency freelances by nationals, according to Jon Harris, chair of National Association of Press Agencies and managing director of news agency Cavendish Press, quoted in Press Gazette £35 to £50 depending on size | _NI | 2022 | |
50.00 | GR | XX |
| Sun NIB item - rates paid to agency freelances by nationals, according to Jon Harris, chair of National Association of Press Agencies and managing director of news agency Cavendish Press, quoted in Press Gazette | _NI | 2022 | |
10.00 | GR | XX |
| Sun exclusive page lead inside (same rate as 1989!) | _NI | 2017 | |
950.00 | ||
| Sun Online story - size unspecified | _NI | 2025 | |
100.00 | XX | |
| Sunday Mirror True-life feature - first newspaper rights only, once only print and online; exclusive for one week | _TMG | 2018 | |
2000.00 | O | |
| Sunday Mirror Real Life dougle-page spread - | _TMG | 2018 | |
1500.00 | ||
| Sunday Mirror Real Life page - | _TMG | 2018 | |
750.00 | ||
| Sunday Mirror news piece, length unspecified | _TMG | 2015 | |
250.00 | ||
| Sunday Times paid to the economist Maynard Keynes in 1921 - per article (unspecified) according to Virginia Woolf £120 - now worth | _NI | 2023 | |
4640.00 | X | |
| Sunday Times A Life In The Day full-page feature in colour supplement (weekly feature) | _NI | 2021 | |
800.00 | ||
| Sunday Times page lead news story with shared by-line - | _NI | 2018 | |
300.00 | ||
| Telegraph obituaries | _BarcB | 2021 | |
175.00 | X | |
| Telegraph 1000-word feature,with photographs, terms FBS | _BarcB | 2019 | |
500.00 | GR | |
| Telegraph one story | _BarcB | 2019 | |
60.00 | XXXX | |
| Telegraph Real Life / "one day" - | _BarcB | 2018 | |
200.00 | ||
| Telegraph page lead (no length) | _BarcB | 2014 | |
110.00 | Y | |
| Telegraph page lead (no length) | _BarcB | 2014 | |
110.00 | Y | |
| Telegraph magazine - money section 1200-word celeb interview @ £400 = | _BarcB | 2014 | |
333.00 | XX | |
| Telegraph magazine - money section 1200-word celeb interview @ £400 = | _BarcB | 2014 | |
333.00 | XX | |
| The Daily Telegraph news story from abroad (size, placement unspecified) | _BarcB | 2017 | |
60.00 | GR | XXX |
| The Lead long-read feature | 2024 | |
400.00 | GR | ||
| The National, The Arab Weekly (Abu Dhabi Media) columns, 950 words @ $400 = | 2015 | |
421.00 | |||
| The People page 17 lead, weird foreign Web included | _TMG | 2014 | |
1000.00 | ||
| The People page 17 lead, weird foreign Web included | _TMG | 2014 | |
1000.00 | ||
| The Stage 250 word overnight review @ £20 = | 2017 | |
80.00 | XXXX | ||
| The Sun news piece, length unspecified | _NI | 2015 | |
100.00 | ||
| The Sun feature spread | _NI | 2015 | |
1500.00 | O | |
| The Times news page lead | _NI | 2020 | |
140.00 | X | |
| Times column stick, 2-3 columns - rates paid to agency freelances by nationals, according to Jon Harris, chair of National Association of Press Agencies and managing director of news agency Cavendish Press, quoted in Press Gazette - £40 to £75 depending on how many columns | _NI | 2022 | |
75.00 | ||
| Times column stick, 2-3 columns - rates paid to agency freelances by nationals, according to Jon Harris, chair of National Association of Press Agencies and managing director of news agency Cavendish Press, quoted in Press Gazette - £40 to £75 depending on how many columns | _NI | 2022 | |
75.00 | ||
| Times Page lead - rates paid to agency freelances by nationals, according to Jon Harris, chair of National Association of Press Agencies and managing director of news agency Cavendish Press, quoted in Press Gazette | _NI | 2022 | |
117.00 | GR | XX |
| Times column stick, 2-3 columns - rates paid to agency freelances by nationals, according to Jon Harris, chair of National Association of Press Agencies and managing director of news agency Cavendish Press, quoted in Press Gazette - £40 to £75 depending on how many columns | _NI | 2022 | |
40.00 | ||
| Times NIBs | _NI | 2022 | |
22.50 | GR | XX |
| Times 650 words @ £ 117 = | _NI | 2017 | |
180.00 | XXXX | |
| Times front page story | _NI | 2017 | |
233.00 | GR | XXXX |
| Times 325 words @ £117 = | _NI | 2017 | |
360.00 | GR | X |
| Vice UK research for feature | 2016 | |
200.00 | |||
| A serious Irish newspaper 300 - 400 word property reviews | 2015 | |
150.00 | GR | ||
| Al Jazeera English feature-length article | 2022 | |
350.00 | GR | ||
| Al-Jazeera English* news report, unspecified length (2018) | 2023 | |
1250.00 | |||
| BBC per article, reported on Twitter | 2024 | |
500.00 | |||
| BBC 900-word feature + photos, expenses paid (via #FreelancerPayGap) | 2020 | |
265.00 | |||
| BBC News online Commissioned long-form feature/analysis - usually over 1000 words | _BBC | 2018 | |
326.00 | HA | |
| BBC News online News Piece (copy/colour/instant analysis) 500-800 words | _BBC | 2018 | |
191.00 | HA | |
| BBC News website feature, 3500 words, "about six weeks' work" | _BBC | 2015 | |
350.00 | XXX | |
| BBC World Service website per article | _BBC | 2015 | |
50.00 | XX | |
| Daily Mirror page lead story. Rates paid to agency freelances by nationals, according to Jon Harris, chair of National Association of Press Agencies and managing director of news agency Cavendish Press, quoted in Press Gazette - £120 to £130 | _TMG | 2022 | |
120.00 | GR | XX |
| Deutsche Welle (English) feature - flat rate for 600-800 words (via #FreelancerPayGap) | 2020 | |
250.00 | |||
| Mail online news piece, length unspecified | _Assoc | 2015 | |
80.00 | ||
| Key to the rates, by column: |
||||||
| 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 |
|||||
| 4 Currency: either or or (US) | |
|||||
| 5 Amount paid (total of basic licence and extra licences for web use, database resale...) | Amount |
|||||
| 7 "Going Rate" according to experienced NUJ members - do try to better it: | GR |
|||||
| or Minimum rate set out in NUJ House Agreement: | HA |
|||||
| 8 Underpaid, in the fallible opinion of the Freelance editor: | | 50.00 | X |
|||
| or Just sometimes we're pleasantly surprised: | | 1500.00 | O |
|||
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 |
||||||
Have better rates? Submit them (we won't tell it was you)
Joining the NUJ and getting a Press Card