Earn $0.40 Per Word Covering Global Humanitarian Crises for The New Humanitarian

Publication: The New Humanitarian (TNH)
Topics: Humanitarian Crises, Conflict, Refugees, Migration, Climate Change, Human Rights, Aid Policy, Peacebuilding, Investigations
Rate: $0.40 per word + $40 per published image (larger projects may be negotiated as lump sums or day rates)
Deadline: Rolling submissions
Submit Via: Email the most relevant commissioning editor (contacts below)

If you’re an experienced freelance journalist covering conflict, displacement, humanitarian response, climate emergencies, or global development, The New Humanitarian (TNH) is actively accepting freelance pitches.

The New Humanitarian is one of the world’s leading independent nonprofit news organizations focused exclusively on humanitarian journalism. Its mission is to produce deeply reported stories that improve understanding of conflicts, disasters, migration, and humanitarian crises while holding governments, aid organizations, and institutions accountable.

Unlike many news outlets, TNH prioritizes stories that challenge conventional narratives, amplify local voices, and examine the structural causes behind humanitarian emergencies.

What The New Humanitarian Covers

The publication defines humanitarian crises broadly, covering issues including:

  • Armed conflicts
  • Refugee and migration crises
  • Climate change and environmental disasters
  • Disease outbreaks
  • Human rights abuses
  • Humanitarian aid and financing
  • Disaster preparedness
  • Peacebuilding
  • Women’s and girls’ rights
  • Marginalized communities
  • Technology and humanitarian response
  • Accountability within governments and aid organizations

Editors are particularly interested in stories that move beyond daily headlines and provide meaningful context, fresh reporting, and practical insight.

What They’re Looking For

The strongest pitches typically include stories that:

  • Reveal underreported humanitarian issues.
  • Challenge outdated narratives around aid and development.
  • Center the voices of affected communities.
  • Examine structural causes behind humanitarian crises.
  • Investigate failures in aid delivery or governance.
  • Highlight solutions, resilience, and long-term recovery.
  • Explore issues through local perspectives rather than Western-centric viewpoints.

TNH also embraces the principles of decolonized humanitarian journalism by questioning power structures, acknowledging colonial legacies, and promoting authentic representation of communities directly affected by crises.

Formats Accepted

The New Humanitarian commissions a wide variety of formats, including:

  • News (under 1,000 words)
  • News features (1,200–1,400 words)
  • Analysis
  • Opinion essays (around 800 words)
  • Investigations (2,000+ words)
  • First-person essays
  • Interviews
  • Photo features
  • Podcasts
  • Maps
  • Data visualizations
  • Infographics
  • Cultural essays
  • Poetry
  • Multimedia storytelling

Whether you’re a writer, photographer, audio producer, or investigative journalist, there are multiple opportunities to contribute.

Pay

The New Humanitarian pays:

  • $0.40 per published word
  • $40 per published image
  • Negotiated lump sums for larger reporting projects
  • Day rates for extensive assignments
  • Selected reporting expenses when travel is commissioned by TNH
  • Audiovisual rates negotiated separately depending on the project

A typical 1,400-word feature can earn approximately $560, excluding photography and any negotiated project fees.

How to Pitch

A successful pitch should include:

  • A working headline.
  • A short summary of the proposed story.
  • Why the story matters to humanitarian audiences.
  • Your unique reporting angle.
  • The people you intend to interview.
  • Any exclusive access you have.
  • A risk assessment if reporting from conflict zones or politically sensitive environments.

One important requirement from the editors: do not use AI to write your pitch. The New Humanitarian wants to hear directly from you in your own voice and values authentic reporting ideas over AI-generated submissions.

Pitch the Right Editor

Before pitching, review the commissioning editors and choose the one responsible for your region or subject area.

Commissioning editors:

If you’re pitching an investigation, review the dedicated investigations guidelines before contacting the editor.

Why You Should Pitch The New Humanitarian

Publishing with The New Humanitarian offers the opportunity to reach an influential global audience that includes policymakers, humanitarian organizations, researchers, and international media professionals.

For freelancers with expertise in conflict reporting, migration, climate change, humanitarian policy, or investigative journalism, TNH is one of the strongest international markets currently open to pitches.

At Sure Media, we continuously track high-paying freelance writing opportunities from leading publications worldwide, helping writers identify the right markets, improve their pitches, and build sustainable international writing careers.

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