Pitches wanted (federal court) | ~30 to 60 cents per word

COMPANY/PUBLICATION: COURT WATCH

Seamus Hughes, Creator of Court Watch, is looking for pitches:

I run a money losing substack and still pay orders of magnitude more than 8c per word. Pitch me. Guidelines and rate below:

Long time readers will recognize a recurring theme, we care deeply about federal court reporting. And quite frankly, we don’t think there’s enough of it. We also believe that there are plenty of unreported local stories that have national importance. So Court Watch seeks to change that. Court Watch commissions freelance pieces from reporters on the topic of federal court proceedings. If that’s you, drop us a note. If you’re a national reporter who has a story that perhaps you knew was a story but your editor passed, we would be interested. Or if you're one of the far-too-many reporters who was let go recently due to media cuts, use us as an opportunity to continue reporting until you find your next gig. Pitch us.

Length: 500-1000 words

Requirement: Fact based, original reporting that is complimented, augmented, or expanded by federal court records. We lean towards exclusive reporting, but can be convinced to commission a piece on a topic that has been reported on previously as long as the pieces has new reporting that advances the story in a meaningful way. Court Watch does not commission opinion pieces at this time.

An example of the types of federal court record reporting we’re interested in.

Rate: $300 dollars a piece.

Send a short pitch and any past reporting examples to here.

CONTACT INFORMATION (please do not share the email address publicly):

• Questions/submissions: seamushughes@substack.com
• Website: https://www.courtwatch.news

TO HELP YOU CRAFT YOUR PITCH:

• Learn more about the publication: Court Watch is a roundup of the most interesting federal court filings, from search warrants, indictments, to everything in between. The goal is to give the reader direct access to primary source documents. It occasionally publishes breaking news posts and is known to dive deep into specific stories and write standalone reporting pieces. More information here.
• Read through a selection of recent articles/stories on its website.
• Check out our collection of pitch excerpts on this page and find more sample pitches at The Open Notebook and at SuccessfulPitches.com.
• Do not forget to end your pitch with (1) a short introduction about yourself; (2) a few lines highlighting your writing experience, relevant credentials and publication credits; and (3) links to your strongest work or portfolio, and online profile.

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