Your Guide to 2025 Journalism Grants: Funding Opportunities in the U.S. and Canada

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Are you an independent publisher, media outlet or journalist looking for financial and technical support to bring your journalism project to life? Good, impactful journalism takes time, effort, and money. This is why journalism grants and funding are essential—and fortunately, there are many opportunities available for a variety of projects, from investigative journalism to documentary filmmaking.

We’ve summarized a comprehensive list of grants for journalists, media awards, and fellowship opportunities to help you pursue the project you’ve been wanting to work on in 2025.

2025 journalism grants, media awards and fellowships guide

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Quick navigation guide

The Fund for Investigative Journalism

What: Grants and other support for unbiased, nonpartisan investigative stories
Deadline: Various deadlines starting Jan. 27, 2025
Who can apply: U.S. based journalists and freelance reporters
Where: United States
How much: $2,500-$10,000 (varies by funding type)

Journalists and reporters, whether working with a media outlet or independently, have an opportunity to produce investigative stories through the Fund for Investigative Journalism.

The work produced can be for print, online or broadcast stories, books, documentaries or podcasts. They’re looking for stories that break new ground and expose wrongdoing, such as corruption, malfeasance, or misuse of power in the public and private sectors. The Fund also encourages proposals written for ethnic media and submitted by journalists of color.

The Pulitzer Centre Grants and Fellowships

There are various journalism grants offered by the Pulitzer Centre on a rolling basis for investigative stories, as well as fellowship opportunities for journalists including funding, training, and research. Journalists have the opportunity to receive short and yearly financial support to produce in-depth and impactful news projects.

Pulitzer Center list of reporting and journalism grants and fellowships to apply to

Here’s a list of some of their journalism grants and the type of topics and coverage they support:

U.S. Local News Reporting Grant

What: Journalism grants for local U.S. newsrooms to cover underreported stories and other outreach to promote public engagement
Deadline: Rolling basis
Who can apply: Freelance and staff journalists working with local U.S. news outlets to publish in-depth enterprise and investigative reporting projects
Where: United States
How much: Determined by project scope and size

This is an opportunity for freelance and staff journalists working with local U.S. news outlets to publish in-depth enterprise and investigative reporting projects. The U.S. Local News Grant initiative supports reporting on underreported community stories, and helps create educational materials and organizing events to expand the reach of stories. Data, investigative, and accountability journalism projects that tackle systemic issues and hold to account powerful local figures are valued.

Global Reporting Grants

What: Journalism grants to support in-depth, high-impact reporting on critical issues that are often overlooked in the media
Deadline: Rolling basis
Who can apply: Reporters, photographers, radio/audio journalists, television/video journalists, and documentary filmmakers
Where: Global
How much: International travel expenses between $5,000-$10,000 (can be more or less depending on the project scope)

The Global Reporting Grant is a catch-all grant, meaning there are no restrictions on topic or reporting location. News organizations are expected to pay journalists for their work, though in exceptional cases, the center may consider stipends to cover a reporter’s time. The grant supports projects across all media platforms and the center encourages ambitious proposals that combine print, photography, audio, and/or video for one or more news outlets.

Conflict and Peace Fund

What: Funding for projects covering conflict and its impact, or support due to the increased costs that come with reporting safely from conflict zones
Deadline: Rolling basis
Who can apply: Staff reporters and freelancers (however, a written letter of support from a news outlet is required)
Where: Global
How much: Determined by project scope and size

The Conflict and Peace Fund seeks to support journalists and newsrooms on projects that examine the roots of conflict and its connections with many underreported global issues, from mass migration to authoritarianism, gender violence, and the struggle over natural resources.

Work/Environment Reporting Grant

What: Funding for reporting initiatives focused on climate change and its effects on workers and work
Deadline: Rolling basis
Who can apply: Freelance and staff journalists
Where: Global
How much: Determined by project scope and size. Grants for data journalism projects in the past ranged from $10,000-$20,000

The Work/Environment Reporting Grant seeks to explore the global climate risks in the context of work, such as stories that document the impact on labor rights and the livelihoods of some of the world’s most vulnerable workers, and companies that are working on solutions.

Data Journalism Grant

What: Funding for innovative data-driven journalism projects that spotlight underreported issues
Deadline: Rolling basis
Who can apply: Reporters in the U.S. and worldwide
Where: Global
How much: Determined by project scope and size

The Data Journalism Grant will help reporters create compelling stories using data mining, collection and visualization techniques. Proposals should employ cutting-edge data techniques, embrace collaboration among newsrooms, push the envelope in data collection and analysis, and emphasize compelling data-driven storytelling.

The McGraw Fellowship for Business Journalism

What: Funding and editorial support to produce deeply reported enterprise and investigative stories
Deadline: March 31, 2025
Who can apply: Freelance and staff journalists in all forms of media, with at least five years professional experience in journalism
Where: United States
How much: Up to $15,000

The Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Center for Business Journalism provides experienced professionals with journalism grants and editorial support needed to delve into critical economic, financial, or business issues across a wide array of subjects.

The center looks for projects that focus on important local or regional topics, as well as those that tackle compelling national or international stories or report on under-covered communities or issues. Journalists of color and those from diverse backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.

Indigenous Community Media Fund

What: Funding for Indigenous media and journalists
Deadline: January 26, 2025
Who can apply: Indigenous journalists, media, communicators and more
Where: Various regions and countries
How much: $8,000-$12,000 USD

Indigenous community media, muralists, photographers, communicators are eligible to apply for the Indigenous Media Community Fund. This fund promotes partnerships and provides funding to strengthen the infrastructure and transmission systems of Indigenous community media and radio stations, as well as training opportunities for community journalists. This year’s focus is on projects that relate to environmental justice and climate change, including natural disasters, prevention and mitigation.

Grist Fellowship Program

What: Opportunity to work in climate and environmental media
Deadline: January 21, 2025
Who can apply: Early career journalists with an interest in environment and climate justice reporting
Where: United States
How much: $58,750 for a year

The Grist Fellowship Program is a paid opportunity by Grist for early-career journalists interested in honing their environmental journalism skills while working at a national news outlet.

For a full year, the fellow will gain real-world experience at a fast-paced news site, training in a variety of skills key to a journalism career, and exposure to environmental knowledge. The three journalism fellowship opportunities will run from May 2025 to April 2026.

UN Ocean Conference 2025 Fellowship

What: Program for journalists interested in attending and reporting from the United Nations Ocean Conference 2025
Deadline: January 15, 2025
Who can apply: Professional journalists from or representing an established media house and reporting from any country with a coast, and with previous experience reporting on ocean issues
Where: Global
How much: All costs related to travelling to and attending the UN Ocean Conference

The UN Ocean Conference 2025 Fellowship will select up to eight journalists to travel to Nice, France to attend the entire duration of the UN Ocean Conference. The fellows will receive informational resources and technical training to support their reporting at the conference.

John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship

What: Fellowship for journalism leaders passionate with a passion for re-imagining and transforming the field
Deadline: December 4, 2024 for international journalists and January 15, 2025 for U.S. applications
Who can apply: U.S. and international journalists working in news organizations, independent journalists, journalism entrepreneurs and journalism innovators with at least five years of full-time professional journalism experience
Where: Stanford University
How much: $125,000 for the nine months duration of the fellowship

The John S. Knight Fellowship is designed for journalists who are committed to preserving democracy’s promise and are working to reimagine journalism. During their time at Stanford University, fellows will receive Individual coaching and customized workshops, purposefully designed cohort experience, and the time and freedom to explore the university’s offerings.

ICFJ Arthur F. Burns Fellowship

What: Exchange fellowship between U.S., Canada and Germany
Deadline: March 1, 2025
Who can apply: U.S. and Canadian journalists aged 21-40
Where: U.S., Canada and Germany
How much: $4,000 stipend for living expenses and $1,500 for travel expenses

The ICFJ Arthur F. Burns Fellowship is open to journalists in the U.S., Canada and Germany who are interested in living and working in the respective host countries. North American reporters will work at a German media outlet and vice versa for two months through this exchange fellowship by the International Centre for Journalists.

Shorenstein Journalism Award

What: Recognizing the work of journalists and journalism organizations for significant contributions reporting on the complexities of the Asia-Pacific region
Deadline: February 15, 2025
Who can apply: An Asian news media outlet or a journalist whose work has primarily appeared in Asian news media
Where: Global
How much: $10,000

The 2025 Shorenstein Journalism Award will honor an Asian news media outlet or a journalist whose work has primarily appeared in Asian news media. The work may be in print or broadcast journalism or in emerging forms of multimedia journalism.

Shorenstein Journalism Award call for nominations — Image credit: Stanford

2025 Hillman Prizes

What: Journalists whose work is accessible to U.S. audiences
Deadline: January 30, 2025
Who can apply: Journalists globally, however, work with U.S. impact is prioritized
Where: Global
How much: $5,000

The Sidney Hillman Foundation honors journalists, writers and public figures that pursue investigative journalism and public policy in service of the common good through the Hillman Prizes. Applicants can submit work for consideration in five categories:

Book (nonfiction)
Newspaper Journalism (story, series or multimedia; print or online)
Magazine Journalism (longform; print or online)
Broadcast Journalism (television, radio or podcast; at least 20 minutes in total package length)
Opinion & Analysis Journalism (commentary and analysis in any medium).

The Local Journalism Initiative

What: Funding to support civic journalism for underserved communities
Deadline: Open for applications
Who can apply: Canadian news outlets
Where: Canada
How much: Varies

The Local Journalism Initiative is a Canadian Heritage Initiative to support the creation of original civic journalism that covers the diverse needs of underserved communities across Canada. Funding is available to eligible Canadian media organizations to hire journalists or pay freelance journalists to produce civic journalism for underserved communities.

Tom Hanson Photojournalism Award

What: Paid internship
Deadline: January 24, 2025
Who can apply: Canadian photojournalists with less than five years of experience
Where: Canada
How much: Salary equivalent of the start rate for photographers at The Canadian Press

The Tom Hanson Photojournalism Award administered by The Canadian Journalism Foundation offers a six-week paid internship at The Canadian Press head office in Toronto for an early career photojournalist. The annual internship is designed to give a photographer trying to break into the business the chance to perform on the national stage

CJF-CBC Indigenous Journalism Fellowships

What: Indigenous journalists in Canada
Deadline: January 24, 2025
Who can apply: First Nation, Inuit and Métis journalists with with one to 10 years of experience
Where: Canada
How much: $10,000

Three First Nation, Inuit and Métis journalists will have the opportunity to highlight achievements and challenges in their communities through the CJF-CBC Indigenous Journalism Fellowship. Fellows will be hosted for one month at CBC Indigenous in Winnipeg or Montreal, and write or produce a piece or series upon completion of their fellowship opportunity, which will be considered for publication or broadcast by CBC News.

CJF Award for Climate Solutions Reporting

What: Journalists who have reported climate change and innovative solutions in Canadian print, broadcast or online news reporting in 2024
Deadline: January 24, 2025
Who can apply: Working journalist or team of journalists (employed full-time or freelance)
Where: Canada
How much: $10,000

The CJF Award for Climate Solutions Reporting recognizes the efforts of reporters who highlight environmental challenges, and the solutions being tested and implemented to address the environmental challenges affecting the world today and in the future. Submissions can be in any medium but the work must have been produced in 2024.

As you navigate the evolving journalism landscape, partner with Indiegraf Experts to elevate your news business! Our team has helped over 100 publishers increase reader revenue, optimize advertising strategies, and secure journalism grants and funding. Whether you need a quick boost or long-term support, we’ve got you covered.

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