Publications That Have Asked for Unpaid Writing/Editing/Fact-Checking Tests As Part of the Application Process

	A	B	D
1	Short, one-page edit test to complete within 24 hours; copyedit test to be completed by hand, short critique of Harper's essay	unpaid: editing tests, 6 story pitches, 3 headline pitches per story, sample social media posts, stock image header pitches. Minimum of 3 interview rounds. Uncredited interview questions with publication authors.	If you work at a publication listed and would like to offer a comment, please add it below
2	deudas

3	1010 Wins
4	101Reporters (India)	Rewriting a short story, a long story, critiquing a reporter's unedited draft, grammar test, sample story ideas etc. Founder-CEO tends to ghost candidates after shortlisting and keeping them hanging for weeks
5	70 Faces Media	Rewriting a short story, a long story, critiquing a reporter's unedited draft, grammar test, sample story ideas etc. Founder-CEO tends to ghost candidates after shortlisting and keeping them hanging for weeks
6	AARP The Magazine	One short editing test where I edited an article that had already been written and one writing test where I wrote an article based on prompt assigned, both unpaid and timed
7	ABC News
8	Adweek
9	AFAR Media
10	Agence France-Presse (AFP)	3 hours long, 4 parts: write a 400-500 word breaking news story on a fake event, write a 300-word breaking news story off a press release, translate an article in a foreign language into English, and edit/rewrite an article that was written in poor English
11	AHA Media Group
12	AKA NYC (copyediting)	Please write a blurb for a Broadway show, meant to appeal to musical-goers, write 10 copy lines for the show, and write 3 social campaign ideas for the show. Copy edit an introduction, then copy edit a final story and provide a new story title option.
13	Akron Beacon Journal
14	Al Jazeera
15	Al Jazeera English	I was asked to write a 500 to 800-word news story with additional commentary; another 500-700 word article with additional commentary plus a headline and a summary; and edit and fact check a provided story as well as writing a headline and summary of it.
16	Al Monitor (800-word story)
17	American City Business Journals
18	American Independent
19	American Institutes for Research	They required a 2.5-hour editing test, in APA style, including formatting and checking references. This was for freelance copyediting. They ghosted me after the test.
20	Americas Test Kitchen
21	AmoMama	They asked for a 2000 word sample under three hours and rejected it without saying why.
22	Amsterdam News	Copyediting test copy was far too long and deeply in need of actual editing (though I found the story had already been published in substantially the same form.) I was torn between redlining the entire doc, or ghosting. I compromised, ending my work at page 3 of 7. I wasn't offered the role, of course, so I felt fine sharing feedback, unsolicited.
23	Android Police	I had to write 2 sample articles for them after clearing the first round, where my existing bylines were evaluated
24	Angi	Had to write an unpaid 300-word sample showing I could adhere to their stringent style guides. I got booted before onboarding ended because I was told they hired too many writers...they're still placing want ads.
25	Air Mail
26	Apartment Therapy	I had to do a 3-part edit test that took a week to complete, with over 20 sections/requirements.
27	Apple News	I had to do a curation for the news section and weekend reads - choose 12 articles from various news sites, write headline and copy. Took hours, also had to pay and download the app!
28	Arch Daily
29	Arizona Republic/AZ Central
30	Artsy
31	Asahi Shinbun
32	Atlanta Magazine
33	Atlas Obscura
34	Attrock
35	Auduochuck (podcast company)
36	Axios
37	Axios Local
38	Away (Here Magazine)
39	Babylist
40	Bay Area News Group (San Jose Mercury News)
41	BBC
42	Betches	For associate editor role: Had to pitch 2 series/columns, two trending articles, three evergreen articles, write one of those pitched articles (400+ words), pull 3 old articles and suggest edits for them, suggest new subcategories and explain why for each one, and describe my vision for the vertical
43	Big Issue	Had to edit an article, write an article and social media posts. It was on google docs, and they didn't look at. Still got an interview though.
44	Billboard
45	Black Press
46	Bloomberg Government
47	Bloomberg Industry Group	Writethrough of a breaking story in 10 minutes, then a longer iteration of the same story based on news releases. Also had to pitch follow-up reporting, draft questions and put together a social media strategy for promotion. Timed, one hour.
48	Bloomberg News	Assigned a combination writing / editing test of 3 articles and social and got ghosted
49	Booking.com	2 hours to complete editing a brief, proofreading, and providing constructive feedback on copy
50	Boston 25 News
51	Boston Globe
52	Boston Guardian
53	Boston Magazine
54	Boston.com	1 hour to complete a content producer test, comprising of the following: 1) give 3 story ideas and write out a headline, summary, how you'd report, and social media package for your favorite story 2) select reader quotes/reactions to electric vehicle charging stations in Boston and explain why you'd feature it; I got rejected from the job and the feedback was based on one answer, which was not constructive in my opinion
55	Bradt Guides
56	Brides
57	Brighton Argus
58	British GQ
59	Broadway.com	For the first step in the application process for a full-time staff writer position, I was asked to complete a two-part edit test which included writing a 350-word story and pitching two story ideas
60	Broadway News
61	Bronx Times
62	Business Insider	Second step in the application process for an editor position on their Life & Entertainment team. It's a timed test that must be completed within 3 hours. I was told they'd review it in the next week or so; followed up twice and received a generic rejection almost 4 weeks later.
63	Bustle Digital Group	I applied to write for Bustle on a freelance basis and they responded with a request for me to complete an unpaid edit test. The editor asked me to deliver "5 FEATURE pitches of essays, slide shows or lists that you’d love to write and think are appropriate for Bustle, and 1 WRITTEN SAMPLE article — you can choose from your list of pitches" within 6 days that overlapped with Christmas. I declined. 2) (new person here!) I applied for an editor position at BDG and also completed an unpaid, 4-part edit test. They gave me a week to complete it and it took me about 10-15 hours. For the first part, I had to rewrite the first 300 words of an old article and provide overlall feedback on how I'd approach the piece if I completely rewrote it. For the second part, I was given 4 story HEDs and I needed to provide an SEO hed, a social hed, an optimized URL path, and a meta description for the piece along with guidance I would give to another writer/editor on how to edit/update it. For the third part, I was given a general story idea and had to come up with ways to repurpose it across their portfolio of brands, and provide a social hed, an SEO hed, and an article description for each. For the last part of the test, I had to edit a 450-word piece and leave notes, cuts, and suggestions for the (hypothetical) writer.
64	Buzzfeed	1) Do a 'mock' version of the vertical I applied for as though it was a real entry (the usual Buzzfeed listicle/ Wrote a quiz and a short post that were published as community posts on the site, plus a standard edit test. 2) [New person here] Two-hour unpaid test for a freelance copyediting position. One of the two parts involved editing 40 sentences within an hour.
65	Buzzfeed News (no longer exists)
66	Byrdie	Unpaid writing test
67	Cash App	unpaid writing test
68	Catapult
69
70	CBC
71	CBR	Had to do unpaid training (took 3 days) and trial piece by the end, only if training was succesful and trial piece was accepted did I receive compensation ($50).
72	CBS News	90 minute unpaid writing test for WGA union producer and writing roles for CBS News Streaming.
73	CGTN America
74	Chemical & Engineering News
75	Houston Chronicle/Chron.com	full social strategy as part of the writing assignment
76	Chronicle of Higher Ed	For the internship—asked to write a mock article, 3 hour limit, I think it was 500 words
77	City AM
78	Clean Plates
79	Cleveland Scene Magazine
80	CNBC
81	CNET
82	CNN
83	CNN Underscored
84	Collider	sample articles and 5 sample pitches
85	Colorado Public Radio
86	Comic Book Resources (CBR	Sample Article, may ask for multiple
87	Complexly
88	Cosmopolitan	Unpaid writing test and training on CMS system that took a week
89	Cosmopolitan UK
90	Country Living UK	Had to edit a dps in style, then write a 300 word feature. Write and research a possible artisan contributor for their regular artisan profile and list all the ways you would use this idea across various mediums such as print, online, social media channels, their membership app and youtube channel. Outline a topical feature idea suitable for life in the country and talk about what you would do with this idea in print/social media/website/youtube as above. Suggest a new regular feature idea and how you would illustrate it - this was four days of unpaid work. Three interview rounds, first over zoom, then the unpaid task over Christmas then a final in person interview at House of Hearst. 500 applicants down to 3. Final 2 applicants that were not given the job were sent an automated HR email from Hearst letting them know their application would not be progressed any further.
91	Courier Newsroom	Memo and pitches
92	Cozymeal	Example of their sample tests they require you to complete before submitting the application: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wXK-1DurSv-3LvnlpyWH350LGN6KJA83/edit
93	CQ Roll Call
94	Crisp
95	Cultaholic	Unpaid tasks are set for freelance positions, eg. A 2000 word listicle. Task is set at the time of application and before an interview which applicants may or may not get, same goes for their video editor positions
96	Cultura Colectiva
97	Cultured Magazine
98	Cup of Jo
99	Daily Beast	unpaid edit test
100	Daily Mail