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NUJ Rate for the Job:
recent rates for Words, per 1000 / 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.
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Work paid by the thousand words, whose primary use is in a national newspaper. See also regional newspapers. If you are interested, the archived rates are here. | ||||||
Tell us what you've been paid for Words, per 1000 / news |
Freelance Fees Guide
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| Publication / Programme - details & terms | Group | Year |  |
Total paid | GR |
XXXX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I paper feature | 2025 |  |
330.00 | |||
| ASLEF Journal full page report, 750 words @ £200 = | _TU | 2024 | |
267.00 | GR | |
| Business Post Connected Technology magazine 800 words @ €233.95 = | _NI | 2024 |  |
292.00 | ||
| Daily Mail 2000 words @ £1000 , terms - all rights to Mail | _Assoc | 2025 | |
500.00 | ||
| Daily Mail exclusive story, 800 words @ £600 = | _Assoc | 2024 | |
750.00 | GR | |
| Financial Times feature | _Nikkei | 2025 | |
500.00 | ||
| Guardian (£150 expenses paid) 1300 words @ £500 = | _GMG | 2025 | |
385.00 | ||
| Guardian | _GMG | 2025 | |
370.39 | ||
| Guardian asked for extra for research - denied | _GMG | 2025 | |
370.39 | ||
| Guardian commissioned contributions - house agreement rate | _GMG | 2025 | |
370.39 | HA | |
| Guardian 700 words @ £252 = | _GMG | 2024 | |
360.00 | ||
| Guardian standard rate (according to a Twitter call for Observer pitches) | _GMG | 2024 | |
361.00 | ||
| Guardian obituary | _GMG | 2024 | |
340.00 | ||
| Guardian approx. 800 word news article @ £271= | _GMG | 2024 | |
339.00 | ||
| Guardian approx 700 words (2022) @ £244= | 2024 | |
349.00 | |||
| Guardian Australia AU$ 765 per 1000 = | _GMG | 2025 | |
386.00 | HA | |
| Guardian Australia (via #FairDealForFreelancers) (1000 words @ AUS $ 700) | _GMG | 2023 | |
396.00 | GR | |
| Guardian Lifestyle (via #FairDealForFreelancers) 800 words @ £292 = | _GMG | 2023 | |
365.00 | ||
| Guardian US (via #FairDealForFreelancers) | _GMG | 2023 |  |
440.00 | ||
| Guardian USA commissioned text | _GMG | 2025 | |
500.00 | HA | |
| i newspaper feature - argued up from £400 after previous commission expanded from 1000 to 1500 words | _Assoc | 2025 | |
450.00 | ||
| i newspaper | _Assoc | 2025 | |
400.00 | ||
| i paper 1500 word article on Elon Musk @ £450 = , terms - FBS | _Assoc | 2025 | |
300.00 | ||
| Independent feature | _Lebedev | 2025 | |
330.00 | ||
| Independent 800 words, terms - web use only, @ £300 = | _INM | 2024 | |
375.00 | GR | |
| Irish Examiner 600-word book review - FBS | _ITtrust | 2024 | |
250.00 | GR | |
| Literary Hub TV review (via Freelancer Solidarity Project) | 2023 | |
200.00 | |||
| Mail on Sunday (via #FairDealForFreelancers) features 2000 words @ £1300 = | _Assoc | 2023 | |
650.00 | ||
| Mail on Sunday Books (via #FairDealForFreelancers) 300 words @ £200 = | _Assoc | 2023 | |
666.67 | ||
| Mail on Sunday Health (via #FairDealForFreelancers) 5000 words @ £3500 = | _Assoc | 2023 | |
700.00 | ||
| Mail on Sunday Money (via #FairDealForFreelancers) 1200 words @ £600 = | _Assoc | 2023 | |
500.00 | ||
| Mail on Sunday Money (via #FairDealForFreelancers) 1200 words @ £585 = | _Assoc | 2023 | |
487.50 | ||
| Mail Plus Opinion (via #FairDealForFreelancers) 800 words @ £300 = | _Assoc | 2023 | |
375.00 | ||
| Mirror (via #FairDealForFreelancers) features 1200 words @ £800 = | _MGN | 2023 | |
666.67 | ||
| New York Times arts feature (via Freelancer Solidarity Project) | 2023 | |
1000.00 | |||
| New York Times Opinion (via #FairDealForFreelancers) 800 words @ $391 = | _NYT | 2023 | |
440.00 | ||
| Observer feature | 2025 | |
400.00 | |||
| Observer (reported to journoresources.org.uk) 215 words on music @ £85 = | 2025 | |
393.00 | |||
| Observer standard rate (according to a Twitter call for science pitches) | _GMG | 2024 | |
361.00 | HA | |
| Private Eye 266 words @ £160 = | 2025 | |
600.00 | O | ||
| Private Eye news short 342 words @ £150 = | 2025 | |
439.00 | O | ||
| Private Eye Turds of the Week 135 words @ £90 = | 2024 | |
666.66 | O | ||
| Scottish Daily Mail splash 500 words @ £350 = | _Assoc | 2024 | |
700.00 | ||
| Sunday Mail full page, 750-ish words @ £450 = | _TMG | 2024 | |
600.00 | GR | |
| Sunday Mail Page lead 600-ish words @ £400 = | _TMG | 2024 | |
667.00 | ||
| Sunday Mirror 2nd rights to reprint real-life feature (via #FairDealForFreelancers) 900 words @ £500 = | _MGN | 2023 | |
555.56 | ||
| Sunday People Real life (via #FairDealForFreelancers) 1500 words @ £1000 = | _MGN | 2023 | |
666.67 | ||
| Sunday Times Ireland Climate magazine | _NI | 2024 | |
250.00 | ||
| Sunday Times feature | _NI | 2025 | |
500.00 | ||
| Sunday Times feature | _NI | 2025 | |
400.00 | ||
| Sunday Times investigative piece, money section, terms FBS, 800 words @ £450 = | _NI | 2024 | |
562.50 | ||
| Telegraph feature | 2025 | |
580.00 | O | ||
| Telegraph (via #FairDealForFreelancers) features (print) 1000 words @ £400 = | _BarcB | 2023 | |
400.00 | ||
| Telegraph Culture (online only) (via #FairDealForFreelancers) 1300 words @ £450 = | _BarcB | 2023 | |
346.15 | ||
| Telegraph Global Health section up to | _BarcB | 2025 | |
500.00 | ||
| The Lancet World Report (via #FairDealForFreelancers) 750 words @ £550 = | _RE | 2023 | |
733.33 | ||
| Times advertorial feature | _NI | 2023 | |
750.00 | O | |
| Washington Post foreign news (via #FairDealForFreelancers) 800 words @ $1000 = | 2023 | |
1120.00 | |||
| Washington Post foreign news (via #FairDealForFreelancers) 1350 words @ $1000 = | 2023 | |
660.00 | |||
| Washington Post foreign news (via #FairDealForFreelancers) 1400 words @ $1000 = | 2023 | |
630.00 | |||
| Al Jazeera reporting plus expenses 50 | 2023 | |
350.00 | |||
| Al Jazeera online news desk 750 words all rights @ £150 = | 2024 | |
200.00 | |||
| Al Jazeera online news desk 750 words all rights @ £70 = | 2024 | |
128.00 | |||
| National newspaper three small (215 words) columns in a month @ £307 - not taxed at source, retain copyright | 2025 | |
476.00 | HA | ||
| The Bureau of Investigative Journalism longform investigative report - 2000 words @ £1000 | 2024 | |
500.00 | |||
| Unite member magazines (print) reported feature | 2024 | |
300.00 | |||
| 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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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 |
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