Pitches wanted (the South's diversity, trends, issues) | $100-$500 per piece

COMPANY/PUBLICATION: FACING SOUTH

We’re on the lookout for freelance pitches from journalists and other writers — reported features, shorter articles, and Voices editorial essays that reflect the South’s diversity of race, class, culture, and experience. Here’s how to pitch us.

Facing South, the online magazine and twice-monthly email newsletter of the nonprofit, nonpartisan Institute for Southern Studies, featuring investigative reporting and in-depth analysis of trends across the South, is opening a call for pitches. We define the region as including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

Here’s what we’re looking for: stories exposing abuses of power, holding powerful interests accountable, and elevating the voices of everyday people working for systemic change in the South. We want nuanced stories that go beyond stereotypes of our region. Please send us a brief (but detailed!) pitch about the story you want to tell, how you’re planning to tell it, and why it’s a fit for Facing South. We’re also seeking pitches for our Voices section, which allows organizers and activists the chance to write opinion pieces about issues that are important to them.

We especially encourage pitches from writers with backgrounds that are often under-represented in coverage of the South: Black, indigenous, immigrant, and Latinx writers; writers from rural communities, or from urban and suburban communities that don’t often get the media spotlight; trans, non-binary, and gender nonconforming writers; community organizers and activists, and anyone else we may have left out.

To pitch us, email our editor Sue Sturgis: sue@southernstudies.org.

Here’s what we pay:

• Op-eds, obituaries, and other Voices pieces: $150-$200
• First-person reports, personal essays, or photo essays: $200-$300
• Reported stories: $350-$500
• Interviews: $200-$300

CONTACT INFORMATION:

• Questions / submissions: sue@southernstudies.org
• Website: https://www.facingsouth.org/

TO HELP YOU CRAFT YOUR PITCH:

• Learn more about the publication: Facing South features investigative reporting and in-depth analysis of trends across the South. Facing South has earned a national reputation for exposing abuses of power, holding powerful interests accountable, and elevating the voices of everyday people working for change in the South. More information here.
• Read through its selection of recent articles/stories, categorized into: Human Rights, Economy, Demographics, Environment, Politics
• Check out our collection of pitch excerpts on this page and find more sample pitches at The Open Notebook Database and at SuccessfulPitches.com.