NUJ Rate for the Job: Words, per 1000 / regional

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.

Words, per 1000 / regional Work paid by the thousand words, whose primary use is in a regional newspaper. See also national papers. If you are interested, the archived rates are here.
Tell us what you've been paid for Words, per 1000 / regional		Freelance Fees Guide
Publication / Programme - details & terms	Group	Year		Total paid	GR	XXXX
Barnet Press reporting day (7 hours)	_Tindle	2016		110.00
Evening Standard advertorial feature	_Lebedev	2023		400.00
Great Central Gazette Leicester community paper all articles - max. £100 specified on website		2023		100.00
Hertfordshire Life copyright assigne to customer, no expenses	_ECN	2015		100.00		X
Luton On Sunday short feature		2016		143.00		X
Surrey Life feature (via #FreelancerPayGap)	_ECN	2020		200.00
The Bristol Cable feature (via #FreelancerPayGap)		2020		133.00
The National (Scotland) food and drink industry coverage	_NQ	2023		142.00	GR	X
The National (Scotland) food and drink industry coverage	_NQ	2023		142.00	GR	X
Yorkshire Post 1200 word feature @ £150	_Johnsto	2014		125.00
Yorkshire Post 1200 word feature @ £150	_Johnsto	2014		125.00
Archant feature (via #FreelancerPayGap)	_ECN	2020		150.00
National World newspaper(s) article for online use	_Johnsto	2023		130.00
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:

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Freelance Fees Guide home page

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