![[Freelance]](../gif/ratesH.png)
![[NUJ.LFB]](../gif/nujsma.gif "[Go to NUJ.LFB home page]")
NUJ Rate for the Job:
recent rates for Words, other / news
Updated: 2025-11-18
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guardian commissioned blog post or Pick of the Day - house agreement rate | _GMG | 2025 |  |
102.50 | HA | |
| Guardian Australia opinion (blog) AU$ 328 each = | _GMG | 2025 | |
166.00 | HA | |
| Guardian USA blog post | _GMG | 2025 |  |
150.00 | HA | |
| LA Times* news flat rate (2015) | 2023 | |
300.00 | |||
| Novara Media per article | 2025 | |
195.00 | GR | ||
| Paste magazine TV review (via Freelancer Solidarity Project) | 2023 | |
100.00 | |||
| Private Eye story | 2023 | |
180.00 | |||
| Shondaland Digital Media author interview (via Freelancer Solidarity Project) | 2023 | |
550.00 | |||
| Sun investigative piece for Sun Money - FBS | _NI | 2024 | |
450.00 | ||
| The Lead long-read feature | 2024 | |
400.00 | GR | ||
| Al-Jazeera English* news report, unspecified length (2018) | 2023 | |
1250.00 | |||
| BBC per article, reported on Twitter | _BBC | 2024 | |
500.00 | ||
| BBC online 900 words plus photos (£65 expenses paid) | _BBC | 2025 | |
345.00 | ||
| BBC Turkish reporting per piece | _BBC | 2025 | |
200.00 | ||
| 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 recent 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