FIRE Greenlight Grants support important stories for the public, but simultaneously reward best practices in the engagement of freelance reporters.

Any co-awarded publisher or broadcaster would receive 20% of the grant, along with recognition for a high standard of treatment of freelance reporters. 

To be eligible for the FIRE Greenlight Grants, the outlet must promise in writing, in FIRE's sole discretion, to cover your defamation-related legal expenses as long as you report responsibly—this is what we call "Liability Protection."

Some outlets do so. The FIRE Guide to Freelancer Protection measures the differences and may help inform prospective applications for the Greenlight Grants (see below).

If the outlet is found to provide Liability Protection—either directly in the contract or extra-contractually with FIRE's guidance—you and the outlet gain a chance to compete on the strength of your story, and on four secondary criteria:

• safety of the reporter and his or her sources
• intellectual property
• pay and expenses
• timeliness of pay.

But before it can undergo review on these criteria, the outlet in the partnership must eventually meet the core Liability Protection criterion, even if with assistance from FIRE.

Eligibility and story arrangements

FIRE does not require you to have an eligible outlet at the time you apply (application deadline April 27, 2026)—only by the time we award the grant. On request FIRE may be available to help you find an outlet—or help yours become eligible. More at FAQ.

But you would be responsible for finding the outlet—and including answers from the outlet in your application for the new Greenlight Grants. if your story passes an initial round. The answers would come via a Google Form, downloadable here.

Since the application would be answered jointly, we strongly encourage applicants to view all the questions in advance.

Two draft sample questions from the application form:

• What minimum fee or fee range has the outlet agreed to pay for this story? *
• Intellectual property: Please check any that apply: *
• The reporter holds copyright on this story 
• The reporter does not hold copyright, but would retain derivative rights 
• The reporter does not hold copyright or derivative rights, but receives a 50%-plus division of proceeds 
• The story is arranged as a work for hire

In assessing the answers to questions about reporter engagement, FIRE takes into account multiple variables to measure against an ideal derived from two decades of service to the freelance reporting sector.

Besides the core Liability Protection:

• take any possible responsibilityfor the safety of reporter and his or her sources
• recognize the reporter's investment in their story to the greatest extent possible
• pay reasonable fee and expenses
• pay in a timely fashion, assuming thin margins and dire personal consequence

The questions solicit evidence by which FIRE can rate working arrangements across all qualified applicants, while simultaneously assessing their proposed stories. Candidates with the highest combined ratings will become finalists and advance to the FIRE Selection Committee, a panel of journalism professionals. The committee determines winners.

Additional Considerations

FIRE will reserve the right to verify answers about story arrangements to confirm eligibility and ratings. For full disclosure, final answers may be incorporated in an outlet's entry in the Guide, after being vetted with you and the outlet.

If you are not comfortable conveying answers from your outlet, your initial email inquiry could instead indicate interest in the conventional $12,500 Virtual Newsroom grant. That does not require responses from the publisher or broadcaster. It allows inquiries by rolling deadline.

For additional information on the Greenlight Grants, check Applying for the Greenlight Grants; Application Timeline; the "Grants" and "Greenlight Grants" sections of Frequently Asked Questions; and if you still don't find answers, email us. Once you're ready to apply for conventional grant (any time after May 15, 2026) or the  Greenlight Grant (closer to April 27, 2026), you can find application directions here.
 

Eligibility and FIRE Guide to Freelancer Protections

For intelligence on which newsrooms may qualify on Liability Protection, you may view a list of 20 newsrooms already evaluated by the FIRE Guide to Freelancer Protection and request the Guide itself here.

If an outlet's liability practices earn it a "Greenlight" in the Guide ("Green" or "Green/Yellow" ratings), you can have  more confidence in its overall eligibility for a Greenlight Grant. But even outlets that aren't Green may have improved their practices—and should not be ruled out. You may also choose any outlet not listed in the Guide. Eligibility is formally determined not by the Guide, but by responses supplied by the outlet via your application Google form.