Two-hour advice sessions for reporting and legal services
FIRE offers a range of direct reporting services for individual investigative freelancers in the form of two unique programs—a FIRE Consultancy and a Virtual Newsroom.
All FIRE applicants must apply for the FIRE Consultancy. If selected, a recipient may be invited to apply for the Virtual Newsroom, which comes with a grant.
The FIRE Consultancy provides advice and tools in the form of two-hour consultations with FIRE. Depending on a reporter’s needs, there are three kinds of consultancies—legal, reporting, and comprehensive.
A Legal Consultancy provides contractual-related legal assistance —including up to an hour of an attorney’s time.
A Legal Consultancy might cover:
- how to respond to an indemnity clause;
- whether or not to sign a particular contract and why;
- whether to use FIRE’s boilerplate freelancer agreement instead of an outlet’s contract;
- whether an existing contract has left a reporter vulnerable;
- how to approach related issues, from copyright to severability.
For feedback from reporters who have used the program, visit Testimonials.
For more information and how to apply, visit Legal Consultancy.
A Reporting Consultancy might cover any of the following editorial challenges:
- gain tips to solve a particular reporting problem
- learn more about the freelancer landscape generally
- find new sources for a story
- come up with a story idea or angle that might be compelling to editors (or a particular editor)
- identify options for an editor or outlet for the story
- learn about funding opportunities for a story idea
- identify appropriate professional trainings or tools
For feedback from reporters who have used the program, visit Testimonials.
For more information, visit Reporting Consultancy. To apply, visit Guidelines and Application.
A Comprehensive Consultancy covers both contract-related legal assistance and reporting needs.
For more information, visit Reporting Consultancy or Legal Consultancy. To apply, visit Guidelines and Application.
For further information or questions, see FAQs. If you still have questions, email application@firenewsroom.org.
For a list of resources available from FIRE’S allies, visit here.