Journalism Travel Grant

Job Description

The Neal Peirce Foundation is accepting applications for our next round of Journalism Travel Grants. Proposals are due October 13, 2026. Easy to apply.

We support journalists in covering under-told stories about ways to make cities and their metro regions work better for all their people.

Our travel grants of up to $1,500 enable journalists to travel to cities within the U.S. to produce one or more stories for publication. The awards, selected through a competitive review process, cover travel expenses necessary for on-the-ground reporting.

An ideal project for us to support is one where a journalist aims to inform a critical local debate in their home market by reporting on how a promising approach in another city is working. Here are two examples of stories we have supported that demonstrate this approach. Please read them and consider how your proposal can help cities learn from each other.  

Job Requirements

Full eligibility requirements are at https://www.nealpeircefoundation.org/apply/

We invite full-time freelancers as well as journalists currently employed by a news organization to apply.

Reporters, writers, editors, and photographers working in print, online, radio, television, podcasts and multimedia are eligible for travel grant awards if they have had stories published or aired in the previous 3 years. We especially welcome applicants early in their journalism careers or from backgrounds underrepresented in today’s news media.

• Timing: The expectation is that travel will occur within three months of award receipt, and the story will be submitted within three months of travel ending.
• Geography: Travel must be within the U.S., and can be local or long distance, and by any means of reasonable transport (bus, rail, air, auto, etc.).
• Promotion: It is expected that stories produced with a grant will briefly mention the Peirce Foundation’s support for the project at the end. Grant recipients are expected to promote the story from their social media accounts and may be asked to participate in Foundation efforts to publicize the availability and impact of Journalism Travel Grants in the future.

Application Review Process

A Grant Review Committee of established journalists and urbanists carefully reviews all applications, and submits recommendations about which to fund to the foundation’s Board of Directors.

We anticipate notifying grant winners in November, 2026. 

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