Pitches wanted (Portland politics) | $250+ per article

COMPANY/PUBLICATION: PDX.VOTE

Thursday Bram, Editor / Founder of PDX.Vote, is looking for pitches:

I’ve been working on PDX.Vote for a couple of months now and I’ve got a couple of articles by contributors who aren’t me in the pipeline now — but I want more!

What I’m looking for:

Very short summary: if you have an idea for a piece (article, comic, video, etc) that touches on Portland-area politics, you can read the submission guidelines at https://pdx.vote/contact/ and send me a short email through the contact form. I’m going to go into more depth below.

First off, payment! As a writer myself, I think asking people to contribute to a project like this without pay is super crappy. Therefore, PDX.Vote pays contributors. Pay rates start at $250 and increase based on the level of research and other work required.

I’m currently paying writers out of my own funds, so I’m only publishing an absolute max of four pieces per month by folks other than myself. If I get to the point that PDX.Vote’s supporters cover our recurring costs, I’ll reevaluate that number.

You can see the site’s finances here if you’re curious: https://pdx.vote/financials/ — they're updated monthly.

My preference for pitches is through email. Don’t worry if this is the first article you’ve ever pitched — I don’t need anything super long. I just want to know what topic you’re interested in covering and about any personal connections you have to that topic.

If email or pitching in writing is a struggle, you can record a short (30 seconds or less, ideally) video and send me the link. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but because I personally have a harder time with understanding audio, please try to record your pitch somewhere quiet.

I want to encourage contributors who haven’t shared their work publicly before, especially folks who don’t see themselves represented in the various newsrooms around Portland. If there’s anything I can do to make submitting an idea more accessible for you, let me know.

Now that we’ve talked about the mechanics, what kinds of pieces am I interested in? Anything that has a connection to politics around here — both informal and formal. Sure, pieces about the 2022 elections are a good fit but so are pieces about systemic injustices, community organizing, local history, and everything else that affects whether we can live safely. I'm especially interested in informal efforts that don't get a lot of coverage, like mutual aid groups.

There are a couple of topics I do have in mind that I know I’m not the right person to tackle, so if you’re interested in getting involved but aren’t sure yet what you’d want to write about, feel free to grab one of these ideas and drop me an email about your interest.

One topic I need covered is a look at eviction defense in Portland and surrounding areas. It seems like mutual aid groups are doing more for a lot of folks facing eviction than government agencies are, but I want data to confirm it.

Another is an explanation of how different eras of land theft connect (i.e. Emanuel took land from Black home owners, but the US gov’t and colonizers stole that same land from the Cowlitz and Clackamas tribes). This has to be covered by someone with relevant lived experience.

I’m planning a piece for Pesach that talks about my own experiences with Judaism and how that informs my perspective on local politics. Since Ramadan starts shortly before Pesach this year, I want to commission a companion piece from someone whose experiences with Islam inform their approach to local politics. I’d also consider pieces from practitioners of other faiths. I’ll note that I’ve read plenty of articles about Christianity and local politics, so I’m less interested in rehashing that topic.

Anything about Washington and Clackamas County, preferably from folks who live or work in either county. I’d even be open to a series/column because I think both counties are kinda ignored in political coverage (as well as other types of coverage).

I know there are tribal elections coming up that will impact folks living in Portland, but I’m only comfortable commissioning articles about those elections from people connected to those tribes.

These are all just starting points. If you have an idea you want to pitch, please send it my way whether or not it touches on one of the topics in this thread. After all, I am just one person and can’t track every topic that affects us on my own (no matter how much I’d like to).

CONTACT INFORMATION:

• Submissions: Via the webform
• Website: https://pdx.vote/

TO HELP YOU CRAFT YOUR PITCH:

• Learn more about the publication: PDX.Vote covers elections impacting the residents of Portland, Oregon, including statewide elections. The site is independent, supported primarily through contributions from readers. PDX.Vote’s coverage is left-leaning. More information here.
• Review the submission guidelines here.
• Check out our collection of pitch excerpts on this page and find more sample pitches at The Open Notebook Database and at SuccessfulPitches.com.
• Do not forget to end your pitch with (1) a short introduction about yourself; (2) a paragraph 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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