Pitches wanted (groundbreaking stories) (worldwide) | up to $1+ per word

COMPANY/PUBLICATION: INSIDER 

Edith Honan, Editor (Global News) of Insider, is looking for pitches:

One year ago, I started working with freelancers as a features editor at Insider. As an ex-reporter who often hated pitching editors there's still nothing better than getting a fabulous pitch from someone I don't know yet. Here's what we're after plus some examples:

Before you pitch, please look over what I've published: https://businessinsider.com/category/news-freelancer What's the headline, what's the reporting plan, how will this add to what's out there? Pay is $1/word+ for deeply reported narrative features and $500+ for photo essays.

I'm looking for original, illuminating, weird, ground-breaking stories from anywhere. We aim to be clear and conversational, precise, fair, and accurate. If you have a strong writing voice, this is a place where you can strut it. I try to be a careful and respectful editor.

Pitch me stories off the beaten path that challenge lazy assumptions (with the reporting to back it up). I mostly don't commission News, but after the dust has settled if you have a lead on what really happened, reach out!

Everything I've published is here: https://businessinsider.com/category/news-freelancer For now, I want to highlight stories from the past year that were huge hits with our readers.

What's a fascinating, overlooked issue that you have an original angle on, or a story that shows the consequences of policies (by design or not) on individuals and communities? I also assign profiles (who deserves more attention/scrutiny?) and thorough, engaging explainers.

• This story about influencers from Ali Latifi gave readers a view of Afghanistan that we didn't often see https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-afghanistans-fearless-gen-z-influencers-2021-3
• When the Taliban took Kabul, photographer Alan Chin dug into his archives and recalled what it was like to cover them when they were last in charge in 1996:https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-in-afghanistan-1996-when-taliban-first-took-power-2021-8
• Many stories about the federal home confinement project due to Covid19 focused on policymakers, but Jamie Roth asked the bigger question: Do These 4,000 Federal Inmates Belong Behind Bars? And then she profiled one of them (who is now back in prison): https://www.businessinsider.com/do-these-4000-federal-inmates-belong-behind-bars-2021-8

CONTACT INFORMATION:

• Submissions: ehonan@insider.com
• Website: https://www.businessinsider.com

TO HELP YOU CRAFT YOUR PITCH:

• Learn more about the publication: Insider Inc. is a global news and lifestyle publication that aims to inform and inspire the digital generation. It covers what passionate people actually want to know—from news to food, celebrity to science, politics to sports. More information here.
• Read through a selection of recent global features on its website.
• Check out our collection of pitch excerpts on this page and find more sample pitches at The Open Notebook Database and at SuccessfulPitches.com.