Want to turbocharge your freelance career? Narrow your focus

By Rachel C. Murphy, Missouri/Kansas Health Journalism Fellow

At Health Journalism 2025, freelance journalists mulled how to increase their accepted pitches and, hopefully, pay rates by narrowing their focus to smaller niches. Moderator Barbara Mantel recounted how a chance assignment to cover a medical conference focused on organ donation and transportation changed her career trajectory. Since then, she has reported almost entirely on the organ transplant field. 

“I now have sources who call me and tell me about stories that no one else knows about,” Mantel said. “I can also call up sources and say that I need story ideas and ask what’s not really being reported.” 

She welcomed the input of three freelance journalists who have all chosen specific niches within the health care industry: Charlotte Huff specializes in cancer coverage and rural health, often covering both. Ashley Milne-Tyte started in radio as a reporter for Marketplace on NPR before starting her own podcast, “The Broad Experience.” She has recently focused on aging issues for both audio and print outlets. Melba Newsome began her career in magazine journalism, but now covers health science, emphasizing the environment and social justice. 

Curating sources isn’t the only benefit of niching down. Huff reported that she has been able to negotiate better rates after becoming known within her niche. 

“When an editor comes to you, you have more negotiating ability as well,” Huff said. “They’re already bought into working with you.”

Staying within your niche can also have drawbacks. Huff says that she’s careful to keep her focus broad enough to ensure continuing work and diversifies her niches so that she can switch topics when needed.  

“I don’t ever want an editor to think, ‘Oh, Charlotte is a cancer reporter, so she can’t handle the latest organ transplant story,’” Huff said. 

Newsome advises seeking out a niche with broader applications — she said she can find a climate angle to any story, and often takes the same story idea and sells it in different markets, reducing her reporting workload while increasing her income. 

Rachel C. Murphy is a freelance writer based in Kansas City, Missouri.