Write for WNV

Waging Nonviolence has published more than 400 contributors in 80-plus countries, working with seasoned journalists, activists, organizers, academics and students. Writing experience is not a must since everything we publish goes through our collaborative, hands-on editorial process. The main thing we look for from prospective contributors is knowledge of movements and organizing.

Individuals are encouraged to send pitches with a 1-2 paragraph description of their story to [email protected]. Ideally, pitches will address these basic questions:

• Why should we publish this story now? (particularly if there is no news hook)
• What is new about this story? (particularly if it is on a subject that has been widely covered)
• Why are you the one to write this story?
• Who and/or what will be your sources of information?

In general, we want stories that offer readers an inside look at movements and how they organize to build power. For more on how to pitch us, go here.

We are currently seeking several types of freelance stories:

Reported features – Timely, reported stories about current event issues, but with a focus on resistance and organizing. (~1,500 words, see example)

Breaking news – Coverage of a protest or movement action/event. (~1,000 words or less, see example)

Q&As – Interviews with key movement figures that are set up by a couple hundred word introduction. (~1,500 words, see example)

Reviews – Book, film, TV, theater or other art and culture reviews that relate to movements and organizing (~1,500 words, see example)

Analysis – Commentaries on current event issues with a resistance/organizing focus, typically written by organizers or close movement observers, relying more on history, personal experience or already published information than original reporting (word count varies, see short example and long example)

As a small nonprofit organization, Waging Nonviolenceis only able to pay fixed rates for stories with original reporting. We pay $150 for reported features and $75 for breaking news. We do make occasional exceptions for other types of stories, depending on the amount of research and preparation required.

Please note that we try to respond to all pitches, but that it may take up to a week.

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