Promise of Protection Rewarded in Story Support

Note: To learn more about applying for FIRE's new $25,000 Greenlight Grants, freelancers and newsrooms should visit "Applying for Greenlight Grants" before turning to the Application page. FIRE will make an announcement on new Greenlight Grants in February, 2027.

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FIRE will soon announce the successful launch of an unusual pilot grant program to support freelance investigations—Greenlight Grants.

The program is in the process of awarding grants of $25,000 each to three reporter/outlet teams, selected from 95 applicants. The winning outlets will receive $5,000, the freelancer the other $20,000, as explained below. Look for an announcement on the three winners in October, 2026.

The grants are unsual. The total amounts, $25,000, comes closer to compensating the time required by some freelance accountability-reporting than most story grants do.

But that's not the primary difference: These grants reward publishers and broadcasters for following best practices in engaging freelance reporters.

According to two decades of anecdotal evidence, certain conditions are squandering the journalistic potential of freelancers, and in some cases forcing them out of public-interest reporting entirely, at precisely the wrong time—as newsrooms become understaffed.

As FIRE has observed it, one of the primary weaknesses in the freelance journalism sector is liability protection. Greenliight Grants directly address the problem.

Liability Protection

In assessing support and protection of reporters, FIRE aims to strengthen “sensitive” stories—ones that might risk provoking baseless defamation threats or lawsuits.

These are the stories that make up the bedrock of accountability journalism—and thus democracy.

Such stories can make individuals or organizations look bad. That is an unavoidable risk of public-interest journalism. It is why reporting conducted by staff employees is almost always covered under the publisher's media insurance.

But in freelance contracts, the risk of a defamation threat or lawsuit too often falls onto the reporter, even when they practice careful, fair, rigorous reporting. On paper, the publisher or broadcaster too often takes no responsibility at all.

Words on paper matter always—but ever more in the current media climate.There is no good reason why a newsroom could not promise protection against defamation exposure to a freelancer who is known to report responsibly. Too many newsroom don’t—and it’s depriving the public of stories.

Among other things, burdening the freelancer with the risk of legal costs (even for fair and accurate reporting) tends to handicap reporting on the story, as outlined in the FIRE Guide to Freelancer Protection, and discourage investigations entirely—exactly the wrong outcome.

A Different Standard

Greenlight Grants hold to a different standard. Publications or broadcast outlets must promise protection in writing to responsible reporters—a "greenlight" practice.

If the newsroom meets this condition—promises to protect a responsible reporter against defamation exposure—it becomes eligible to compete with other outlet/reporter teams.

For the most part, the competition centers on the strength of the story proposed: its likely public-interest impact and chance of success at holding power to account.

But proposals are also further assessed on four additional best-practice criteria vital to freelance reporting:

• safety
• intellectual property
• pay and expenses
• payment timeliness

In the joint award, the freelancer gets 80% of the grant for reporting the story. The outlet gets 20% for editing the story and engaging the reporter responsibly. There is no reason why all freelance story grants could not be structured similarly—to encourage best practices that strengthen public-interest reporting at a crucial time.

The Greenlight Grants are made possible by a three-year $450,000 donation to FIRE following the success of the Guide—supplemented by a $30,000 grant from the London-based Sigrid Rausing Trust. Thank you to our generous supporters.

To learn more about or apply for the Greenlight Grants, visit "Applying for Greenlight Grants."