For many medical writers, health journalism is easy to romanticise – at least, it was for me. I wanted to be a journalist when I was young, and I have come very close to that goal in my work as a medical writer. So close that I’ve written branded journalism for the Pulse, a GP magazine, in the past.
What’s not to love? The bylines are appealing, the stories are timely, and the work can feel more dynamic than many other types of writing.
Like any type of health writing, though, it’s worth understanding what it involves before you dive in – the good and the bad. In this article, we’ll look at the different kinds of health journalism, the benefits and considerations of pursuing it, and how to pitch your first story.
Article Summary: This article explains the different types of health journalism and walks writers through what they need to know before getting started, including how to write a strong pitch and where to pitch their first story.
What Are The Different Types of Health Journalism?
There are two main types of health journalism. You can take these and apply them to other industries, too.
Independent journalism
Independent journalism is journalism that is in the service of the public first. There may be stakeholders in the publication, but the articles are not influenced by anyone with a monetary stake in it. They are solely written for the purpose of breaking news and informing the public.
Branded journalism
Branded journalism uses journalistic techniques to create pieces within the context of an organisation. These pieces, especially in healthcare, often involve interviews with subject matter experts. Branded journalism can still offer readers something valuable, but it is not fully independent. Each piece must first serve the organisation funding it first. For that reason, branded journalism will often avoid certain topics and may already have brand guidelines in place.
“The line between the two [independent and brand journalism] has blurred, especially in health. Some of the most accurate, well-funded educational content now comes from branded or sponsored environments. The key distinction isn’t just who pays, but how transparent and rigorous the content is. Strong brand journalism can still be evidence-based and valuable, but it requires careful navigation of bias, disclosure, and intent.”
–Adrienne Nagy, MA, former health journalist and CME writer.
Assignment Types: Independent vs. Branded Journalism
Both types of journalism can include Q&As, profiles, first-person essays, explainers, and even reported features. However, you’re not likely to see investigative journalism in a branded journalism setting, and it is common that the types of assignments are less varied in a branded journalism context.
Independent health journalism outlets include publications such as KFF Health News, Public Health Watch, and The British Medical Journal’s editorial arm, all of which publish editorial work in the public interest. Branded or organisation-owned outlets include platforms such as Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials and the Mayo Clinic Press, which offer valuable health information but operate within each organisation’s priorities.
Later on, we’ll go beyond independent vs. branded journalism and explore the different types of publications you can write for – specifically, where to pitch your first story.
Benefits and Considerations of Health Journalism
Benefits
Health journalism has a real pull for many medical writers, and it’s not hard to see why. There’s the obvious appeal of seeing your name at the top of a piece for a publication you admire or announcing you got published in the Sunday Post at dinner.
There is also the deeper appeal: the chance to influence how readers understand their health, to follow timely and interesting stories, and to step outside the structure that often comes with other kinds of medical writing. For writers who enjoy curiosity, reporting, and variety of work, health journalism – or the idea of it – can feel energising.
Considerations
On the flip side, health journalism has a reputation for being difficult to break into for a reason. The work can be demanding, the reporting process can be labour-intensive, and pitching often means doing unpaid work before you ever get a yes.
Editors don’t want topics; they want fully formed ideas. That means doing some preliminary reporting, understanding the publication’s tone and audience, and crafting a pitch that feels like it could be published tomorrow,” medical writer Adrienne Nagy, MA, said.
Talent alone is not enough for you to succeed. You need patience, strategy, persistence, and a willingness to keep refining your approach. Recent guidance from the Association of Health Care Journalists notes that freelance pitching is happening in an environment with fewer outlets, fewer editors, and more unanswered emails than many writers were used to in earlier years.
“Following up with new ideas, and even repurposing strong concepts for different audiences, is part of building a sustainable freelance workflow,” Nagy said.
Payment can also be less predictable, and rates don’t always match what you can command in other areas of medical writing.
However, it doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing. Health journalism can be something you explore alongside other types of medical writing work. It does not have to be your primary source of income.
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What Makes a Strong Health Journalism Pitch
So, knowing that health journalism is hard to break into, what can you do to help your chances? There’s one thing you have complete control over: the pitch. Let’s look at how to make it memorable.
Understand the outlet
Where you’re pitching is just as important as what you’re pitching. Scientific American, for example, accepts a wide range of piece types, including news articles, opinions, analyses, and features. However, they demand scientific rigour, opinions that are well-founded, not overstated, and a depth of expertise. They also want unique news and opinions. Good Housekeeping, on the other hand, asks for pitches for stories that can help readers stay healthy on a daily basis, describing the tone as like “talking to a friend about your health.”
Lead with a specific angle
A common mistake when pitching a story is just pitching a topic. Instead, show the angle you’d like to tell the story from. This allows you to pitch the same topic in several different ways to different publications.
For example, I read a story about peptide parties this week and was just trying to explain the trend to my husband on the school run. For a “what you should know” type magazine, I might pitch this topic as, “People are now attending peptide parties, as reported by this piece in Business Insider. As more of us hear about this latest “optimisation” hack, we have more questions than answers. This piece would address what peptides are, if we actually need them for our health and if they have real health benefits, and if so, what can add the health benefits in a more accessible way for the everyday person.”
But for a magazine that wants fresh takes, you might pitch a more investigative piece, proposing that you go undercover to attend a peptide party and follow these compounds with zero regulatory oversight to the source.
Certain pitches will align with certain publications. Doing your homework is an important part of a successful pitch.
Show why the story matters now
A good pitch should answer, “Why now?”
Not every health story will have an easy answer to this question: many publications will be looking for evergreen topics – topics that are always revelant to consumers and don’t rely on trendiness or virality. If we’re looking at a topic like peptides, which is having a moment in the sun, I’d answer why now like this: There’s enough public interest right now to get people to read this story, and we still have enough time to educate people who might otherwise be using peptides in a few months.
For a more evergreen topic, like heart health, consider situating your pitch in the current context of the problem. If you’re writing a story on why learning CPR is important, mention how many people still don’t know how to administer CPR and how many people die of cardiac arrest in a prehospital setting.
This way, while it may be an evergreen topic, you’re showing it’s still a problem.
Signal how you’d report it
Talk about the kind of piece you want to write and with who. This can be as simple as saying, “This will be an educational piece incorporating insights from a cardiologist and a paramedic that aims to give readers something to do to improve their CPR capabilities.”
Show why you’re the right writer
A pitch should show an editor the story you have in mind, but you can also spend a few sentences talking about yourself. Introduce yourself and give a high-level overview of your background, pulling out the pieces that show what makes you a competent writer for the story. If you don’t have a formal journalism background, but you’ve been writing blogs about peptide use or marketing materials for peptide companies, that’s definitely worth mentioning. Line up your background with the pitch.
Sample Health Journalism Pitch
The Association of Health Care Journalists is running a series called, “How I Pitched It.” Below is an excerpt from their story on how a freelance journalist landed a story about Japanese walking in the Washington Post.
“Japanese walking” or “interval walking” is trending, as Americans keep failing to fit two hours (10K steps) of walking into their rigorous work and family schedules. It’s a concept based on a 2007 Japanese study gaining attention again this month, in which participants were divided into three groups. One group didn’t walk, one did 8000+ steps per day, and one did Japanese walking, involving three minute slow walking followed by three minute fast walking (five total intervals). The interval walking group had improved blood pressure, BMI and blood glucose levels than the other groups. And, research shows you only need to do this four days per week to see improvement.
I’d like to interview fitness and health experts about why interval walking might be more effective than your daily steps goal for various health improvements. I’d also like to interview a psychologist about motivation, and how it might be more effective to focus on a concentrated half hour than to be worrying about your step goal all day.
Due to the trending nature of this story, I’m pitching to a few editors, but would really like to work with you again! “
-Alexandra Frost via the AHCJ (read the full article here)
Pro Tip: The Association of Health Care Journalists is a fantastic resource for anyone interested in healthcare journalism, with guides on pitching, reporting, grants, and outlets to pitch. They’re also part of a Health Data Preservation Project you can contribute to. If you’re in the UK, check out the Medical Journalists Association.
Why this sample health journalism pitch works
This pitch shows an understanding of the outlet – in the piece, Frost mentions that she’s been following the Post’s Health section for a while and has a good grasp of what kind of stories they like to run.
It answers “why now”, since it’s a trending story and leads with an angle: Americans can’t fit the arbitrary 10K steps a day into their schedules.
The pitch poses a question that could help readers: what if this is an easier solution that helps them stay healthy? Frost walks the editors through a comprehensive reporting plan, and seems to know them, so she doesn’t need to re-establish her credentials at this time.
How One Health Journalist Crafts Pitches That Get Accepted
Angela Myers, healthcare journalist with bylines in AARP, Forbes, and Physician’s Weekly, shared her approach to crafting relevant, engaging pitches that actually get picked up.
Myers said, “The most important things when it comes to health journalism work is looking for stories everywhere. In addition to staying up to date via TikTok and recent research, I look for stories in real life that could be interesting health features. For example, I knew a man in his 80s who lived the coolest life. I got curious about how he kept his cognitive health so sharp at an older age, which turned into a pitch that landed in NextAvenue.”
Where to Pitch Your First Health Journalism Story
“When you’re starting out, the goal isn’t prestige, it’s access, consistency, and building strong clips,” Nagy said.
“Well-structured digital outlets like Healthline or Verywell Health are great entry points because they publish frequently and have clear editorial needs. Trade publications, like clinician-facing or niche health outlets, are often overlooked but can be easier to break into and build credibility quickly,” she said.
Consumer health outlets
These outlets can be a strong entry point if you already write patient education, explanatory content, or consumer-friendly healthcare content. They often want stories that are practical, specific, and clearly useful to readers.
Trade and professional healthcare publications
If you already understand healthcare systems, clinician audiences, policy, practice operations, or a specialty beat, trade publications may be a better first fit than broad consumer outlets.
- Pulse
- Modern Healthcare
- Medscape and Medscape UK
- Cancer Today
- PharmaTimes
- The British Medical Journal (BMJ)
Aspirational health and science publications to work toward
These are the outlets many writers dream about for good reason. They are visible, respected, and often publish the kinds of deeply reported stories that make health journalism feel especially exciting. They are also more competitive, so it often makes sense to treat them as a next-step goal rather than your very first pitch.
- STAT
- Scientific American
- The New York Times, Well
- The Atlantic (Health)
- National Geographic
- The Guardian
- New Scientist
Where newer writers often get traction first
In practice, newer writers often get traction in places that care more about a strong angle and solid reporting than about whether you already have a marquee byline. That often includes:
- consumer/service health outlets
- niche healthcare trades
- regional outlets with health coverage
- speciality publications where you already know the beat
- organisations that have a journalism outlet. Consider your local hospital – do they publish pieces for consumers regularly? That could be a good place to start. It’s brand journalism, and it’s a great entry point.
If you already write about cardiology, oncology, women’s health, public health, or healthcare operations, do not underestimate the advantage of pitching within that area first. Familiarity is likely to help you sharpen your angle, strengthen your reporting plan, and make your pitch more believable – because you already have the experience in the field.
The goal is to ask, “Where can I send the strongest possible version of this idea?” or, “Where is this idea most likely to get published right now?” Not,“What is the most impressive place I could pitch?”
➡️ Check out Health Writer Hub’s list of 110 publications to pitch to
Rethink Perfect with a Medical Writing Mentor
Health journalism is just one place where medical writers may find themselves striving to be perfect. We also wait for our websites to be perfect before ever launching; wait for our pitch or our offer to be perfect before testing it out, or refine, and refine, and refine our skills before we decide to just go for it.
If you’re looking for the strategic entry point into your medical writing venture, but need another set of eyes to help you find the way, that’s what mentorship is for. Strategise with a medical writer who’s been where you are, from agency life to freelancing, and come away with a clear, actionable plan to help you take the “perfect” next step for you. Book your call today and get the clarity you need.
