Nieman Lab is open to pitches. Please send them to staff@niemanlab.org with PITCH in the subject line.

What makes a good Nieman Lab pitch?

• A pitch should relate in some way to Nieman Lab’s original one-line description: “An attempt to help journalism figure out its future in an internet age.” That’s (purposely) broad. It allows us to run stories on everything from NBA insiders on Substack to crochet Covid vaccine and NextDoor to White Lotus. But it should be front of mind as you write your pitch, and you should be able to connect your pitch to our mission in just a couple of sentences.
• It should be specific and backed up by reporting (please, no op-eds or treatises). The best Nieman Lab stories often focus on little things that are representative of broader trends. We love small details and offbeat, surprising, skeptical, funny, weird story ideas. Many of Nieman Lab’s most popular stories have been inspired by tweets. And we love writers with deep expertise in a topic.
• We love stories that focus on the experience of the news consumer. We love stories that explain and unpack new research. We love stories that introduce our readers to communities they may not be familiar with already.
• We welcome pitches from international writers and stories about international news outlets, writers from underrepresented communities, and writers who don’t normally write about journalism. Please do some googling through our archives before you pitch so that you’re familiar with what we’ve published on a topic before.
• Follow the advice here!
• Include a bit about yourself and a link to some published work.
• Finally, a pitch might not be right for Nieman Lab but could work for one of our sister publications, Nieman Reports or Nieman Storyboard. Nieman Reports’ pitch guidelines are here; Storyboard’s are here.

What do you pay?

• Our rates begin at $400 for an 800-word, originally reported piece.
• Academics sometimes ask if they can write about their research for us in order to reach a broader audience than academic journals can. Or journalists may ask if they can write about initiatives at their own news organizations. Stories like this can be great — but a heads up that we don’t pay for them because of the promotional element.

What is it like to work with you? How will I get paid?

• You’ll generally work on editing with Nieman Lab’s editor, Laura Hazard Owen, and/or deputy editor, Sarah Scire. Pieces should be submitted in Google Docs with editing privileges. We try to turn edits around promptly, but depending on how much work the draft needs, the evergreen-ness of the topic, and our other workload, it may take some time. We strive to be as communicative as possible about where we are in the editing process.
• Freelancers must register with Harvard’s vendor payment system, which only takes a few minutes (we’ll send you instructions once your pitch is accepted). Once your piece is published, payment is prompt.

Finally, keep an eye on our social media accounts, where we will occasionally post stories in need of writers. That’s how this story — the most-read in Nieman Lab history — came about.