Opportunities 02/23/2023

Elite Daily, WIRED, Business Insider, and more.

***The Study Hall Opportunities newsletter is a weekly compilation of pitch calls; freelance, part-time, and temporary gigs; events; fellowships, scholarships, awards, and grants; internships; and full-time jobs. It’s written by Chris Erik Thomas, who has spent many evenings in the past week watching films at the Berlinale. The newsletter is (usually) released on Thursdays. Once in a while, we take a day off or publish late for mental health breaks and holidays.

►To help make the Opps better for all of our members, we introduced an Opps Feedback Form. Let us know what we can do to improve the newsletter.

►Editors, submit your time-sensitive or evergreen pitch calls to our Pitch Webform.

►Work at a publication that’s hiring or found a job we should see? Send it to our Jobs Webform.

►Need more info on Study Hall or want to check out our resources? Head to our Linktree.

►Have any other freelance gig, grant, internship, fellowship, or other opp you want to be included in the next Opps newsletter? Send them to [email protected] for approval with “Opportunity:” in the subject line. 

►Let us know if you got a job or landed a pitch through the Opps newsletter! Send them to [email protected] with “Opps Success Story:” in the subject line.

►Tell us what resources have helped you in your freelancing so we can share them with other Study Hall members. Send them to [email protected] with “Resource:” in the subject line.

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***THE MEDIA CLASSIFIED ADS***

>> The Classified Ads are taking a break for March and April. When we return, you’ll be able to place your Ad in our two weekly newsletters: Thursday’s Opportunities and our Digest. We also offer add-on placement for Slack and Listserv posts. Want to promote your job opening / pitch call / new project / ecommerce brand? Click through for rates, testimonials, and to get in touch. <<

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OPPS SUCCESS STORY

Did you turn a pitch call into paid work or land a job, fellowship, internship, or some other gig you found in the Study Hall Opps newsletter? Let us know and we’ll give you a shoutout. Send the details to [email protected] with “Opps Success Story” in the subject line.

–Nomi Kaltmann was paid $250 AUD to write a first-person essay on running for office as an independent candidate in Caulfield during the VIC election for Crikey Magazine. She reports that the “editorial process was great. I wrote a piece differently originally, but the editor gave me pointers on how to structure it. I restructured it and then they published it.”

RESOURCES

Mastering the art of freelancing requires more than just perusing the Study Hall Opps newsletter every week. To help you get the most bang for your buck, we keep track of many resources designed to help media workers. Have a resource you’d like to see included? Send it to [email protected] with “Resource:” in the subject line. 

-The Fund for Investigative Journalism provides emergency grants of up to $10,000 for stories on threats to democracy in the US. The fund reviews proposals on a rolling basis and ends on December 31st, 2023.

-The Reporting Job Board by Investigative Reporters and Editors is a continually updated website for jobs in reporting, editing, academia, and more.

-”Knowing the News” is a new study by the American Press Institute about how Gen Z and Millennials get information on essential topics. The study focuses on six topics: national politics and government; social issues; crime and public safety; traffic, transportation, and weather; COVID-19 information; and health or mental health.

–Accessible Social is a free resource hub that helps make your social media content more accessible to people with temporary or permanent disabilities, including vision and hearing impairments.

Want more resources? Check out Resources For Journalists Seeking Therapy; Trans Journalists Association’s Style Guide; NBCC Book Coverage Publication List; Who’s Behind This Website Checklist; SpotlightDC Investigative Journalism Fund; United States Journalism Emergency Fund; Transcription Tool Safety Guide; Labor Action Tracker; Rate Sharing Database; NPR Diverse Sources Database; Online Violence Response Hub; Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Journalists Therapy Relief Fund; Black Journalists Therapy Relief Fund; Developing An Investigative Pitch Guide; Britany Robinson’s Big List of Writing Deadlines; Study Hall Transcriber Database; Study Hall Fact Checkers Database; Freelancing Guide/Editorial Contacts spreadsheet; #FreelancerPayGap spreadsheet; Pitch Guide Database; Chelsea’s Guide to Freelancing doc; PACER; Priya Krishna’s resources for food writing; Election SOS Report; and the Extremism Coverage Prep Guide.

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CALLS FOR PITCHES 

Please note that we are not endorsing every publication or company listed here. Engaging with a publication or company is entirely up to the reader. Regarding pitch calls, we try to only share opportunities with fair rates based on publicly available information. While we currently define “fair rates” as being above $100 USD for around 700-800 words and above $0.10 per word for longer pieces, we cannot guarantee that every publication pays this rate. If you have more information on a rate or exploitative business practices from a publication posted, email [email protected].***

TIME-SENSITIVE PITCH CALLS, SORTED BY HIGHEST TO LOWEST RATES

-The Century Foundation’s Voices of Disability Economic Justice Project is looking for pitches of op-eds and personal narratives on the economic disparities that disabled people experience that are pegged to Women’s History Month, Developmental Disabilities Month, and Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month. The rate is $500 per piece. See their pitch guide for more info and send pitches to [email protected].

–WIRED is looking for pitches of essays on “current technological debates (broadly defined), though [they are] also up for lyrical meditations and weird, far-off proposals.” The rates start at $500 per essay. See their pitch guide for more info and send pitches to [email protected].

–Distillations, the magazine of the Science History Institute, is looking for pitches of interviews, essays, columns, profiles, and features on “historically grounded stories about science and the environment” — particularly on scientific racism. The rate is $400 for interviews, $750 for essays, columns, and profiles, and $1.25 per word for features. See their pitch guide for more info and send pitches on scientific racism to  [email protected] in “the next several weeks.”

–Business Insider is looking for pitches of as-told-to stories on “hairstylists and nail artists who have worked with famous people” and “people who can speak about life after being laid off/made redundant, people who have quit jobs at big names, and accountants who do taxes for influencers.” The rates start at £250 (or $320) per piece. Send pitches to [email protected].

-Dotdash Meredith is commissioning health and wellness writers to produce content. They are particularly interested in “DDM HEALTH writers past and present.” The rates range from $300-$700 per piece. Send clips and your email to @TweetingApril on Twitter.

–Jewish Currents is looking for pitches of reported features, investigations, profiles, conversations, and essays that focus on the state of Florida. The rates start at $300. See their freelancer agreement for rate more rate info, their pitch guide for the Florida issue, or our previous Opps listing for more info. Send pitches by April 24.

–Viator is commissioning writers to produce guides to the following destinations: “the Caribbean and Central America broadly, as well as Brazil and Venezuela, Tanzania and Ghana, Texas, Germany, the Netherlands, the Balkans, Portugal, and the Philippines.” The rate is $250 per guide. Send inquiries to [email protected] by the end of February.

–Insider is looking for pitches of stories on Coachella and Palm Springs. See their tweet for a list of topics they’re particularly interested in. The rates start at $230 per story. Send pitches to @nuclearunicorns on Twitter. There’s “no hard deadline but [they are] hoping to have most assignments finalized by the first week of April.”

–Mergoat Mag is looking for pitches of essays, features, and poems on the theme of “transecologies” that investigate “the contemporary ecological situation of Southern Appalachia and the cultures shaped by it.” See this tweet for rate info, their pitch guide for more info and send pitches to [email protected] or [email protected] by June 1.

–Tribeza is looking for pitches of articles on the best restaurants, events, design, wellness, and culture stories in Austin, TX. The rates range from $100-$200 per piece. Send pitches to [email protected] by March 31.

NEW EVERGREEN PITCH CALLS, SORTED BY HIGHEST TO LOWEST RATES

–Business Insider is always looking for pitches of longform reported features on health and wellness trends. The rate is $1 per word. Send pitches to [email protected].

–Texas Monthly is always looking for pitches of “fashion and lifestyle essays, reported features, and service pieces that reveal something to the reader about the state of the state.” The rate is typically $0.50 per word. Send pitches to [email protected].

–The Muse is always looking for pitches of reported features, essays, humor pieces, and other pieces on careers and work. They are especially interested in pitches on salary, negotiation, mental health, diversity, and other topics. The rates range from $300-$600, but they will “consider going higher for the right stories.” Send pitches to [email protected].

–In These Times Magazine is always looking for pitches of features, investigations, essays, and other formats on topics related to social, environmental, gender, economic and racial justice. The rates range from $300-$500. See their pitch guide for more info and send pitches to [email protected].

–Going is always assigning travel guide stories to writers around the world. They are particularly interested in the following locations: Guatemala, Finland, Nantucket, Atlanta, Egypt, South Korea, Austria, Lebanon, Kuala Lumpur, Latvia, Kerala, Faroe Islands, Medellin or Bogota, Salta or Mendoza, Cabo or Todos Santos, Newfoundland or PEI, Lesotho, Porto, Stuttgart or Frankfurt or Hamburg, or anywhere in Switzerland. The rates start at $300 per guide. Fill out their pitch form to apply.

–Streetblogs is always looking for pitches of op-eds on how to “reduce dependence on cars and improve conditions for walking, biking, and transit” in NYC. The rate is $250 per piece. Send pitches to [email protected].

–Teen Vogue is always looking for pitches of reported pieces and op-eds on culture, identity, style and politics. The rates “generally” range from $250-$600 and vary based on the section, length, and level of reporting. See their new pitch guide for more info, including how to pitch.

–Holler is always looking for pitches of album review, festival reports, features, and other content on the music genres of country, Americana, and roots. The rates start at $210 per piece. Send pitches to [email protected].

–Different Leaf is always looking for pitches of articles on one of their four themes: Medical Cannabis (Jan-Mar), Cannabis and Culture (Apr- June), Travel and Tourism (July-Sept), and Everything Edible (Oct-Dec). The rates start at $0.50 per word for short interviews and pieces of 250-1,000 words (or $125-$500) and go up to $1 per word for longer  pieces of over 1,000 words. See their pitch guide for more info and send pitches to [email protected].

***CLICK HERE FOR OUR FULL LIST OF 200+ EVERGREEN PITCH CALLS, SORTED BY HIGHEST TO LOWEST RATES.***

FREELANCE, PART-TIME, AND TEMPORARY JOBS

NEW: –Impact is hiring a part-time newsletter writer to write three newsletters per week on news and current events related to social issues. Candidates should have at least one year of newsletter experience and “keep up with viral culture trends, social issues, news, and discourse that Gen Z cares about.” The rate ranges from $18-$35 per hour, each newsletter requires three to six hours of work, and the position starts with a two-month trial period. The position can be remote or based in New York.

NEW: -More Perfect Union is hiring a temporary state legislative researcher to create video and news content to help shape their advocacy campaigns. Candidates should have at least three years of experience in a news, media, or advocacy organization as a journalist or content producer, and “experience covering politics and economic issues is preferred.” The exact rate for the position wasn’t given, however the annual salary is $85,000. The position is remote and will run through June 30. “Applications will be accepted for this position on a rolling basis.”

NEW: –Sentient Media is hiring a part-time assistant editor to fact-check, write and edit content  covering “research, public policies, investigations, debates and developments relating to animal agriculture and its impacts.” Candidates should have extensive journalism experience, “especially [with] fact-checking.” The salary is $26,000 and the position is remote. The deadline to apply is March 31.

–Type Investigations is hiring a researcher on a one-year contract to “do in-depth investigative research, fact-check investigations, and conduct originality searches on story proposals.” Candidates should have at least one year of journalism experience. The rate is $25 per hour, plus a monthly technology stipend, and requires working full-time. The position can be remote or based in New York. The deadline to apply is March 26.

-The Oxford American is hiring a short-term assistant editor to edit print and web content for six months. Candidates should have some editorial experience and “a passion for the South’s diverse music, literary, and cultural traditions.” The exact rate for the position wasn’t given, however the annual salary is $40,000. The position can be remote or based in Conway, AR. “Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled.”

-Jenni Gritters is hiring a freelance writer to assist with product review writing for her business. The rate is $20 per hour, requires working “20ish” hours per month, and the contract will run from March through June. Send a resume and brief intro to [email protected] by the end of February.

–Today in Tabs is hiring interns to write a short blurb every day from Monday through Thursday for one month. The blurb will be on a link or topic chosen between the intern and founder Rusty Foster. The rate is $1,500 for one month, and each tab should be 200-400 words. They are looking for one intern each for April, May, October, and November, and the deadline to apply is March 5.

EVENTS

NEW: -The Institute for Independent Journalists is hosting their annual Journalism Conference from March 9-10. The conference includes 12 live, interactive, online sessions on topics such as pitching, negotiations, fellowships, business, podcasting, and interrogating power. The registration fee is $69 until this Tuesday, February 28, and is $89 afterwards. “Scholarships are available if cost is a barrier to registration.”

-Sterling College is hosting an eight-week workshop on food and environmental nonfiction. The course will teach students to craft compelling stories, allow them to workshop their pieces and pitches, and include multiple guest speakers. The tuition will be $1,250, but nine fellowships are available — eight Diverse Voices fellowships and one Veteran’s Fellowship. The course begins the week of March 6.

GRANTS, SCHOLARSHIPS, CONTESTS, AND AWARDS

-The International Women’s Media Foundation is accepting nominations for their paid Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award. The award celebrates women, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming photojournalists, and includes a cash prize of $20,000. Third-party and self-nominations are accepted. The deadline to nominate is March 3.

-The International Women’s Media Foundation is accepting nominations for their annual Courage in Journalism Awards. The awards honor women and nonbinary journalists who “report on taboo topics, work in environments hostile to women, and share difficult truths.” Self-nominations are not accepted. The deadline to nominate is March 3.

-The International Women’s Media Foundation is accepting nominations for their Gwen Ifill Award. The award is open to women and non-binary journalists of color working in the news media. Third-party and self-nominations are accepted. The deadline to nominate is March 3.

-GALECA is accepting submissions for their Crimson Honors Scholarship contest. The contest requires submitting “up to [three] reviews or essays” on film or TV, and contestants must be “BIPOC LGBTQ+ women, [or] nonbinary students of color” who “attended a public college or university in the US or its territories in 2022.” The grand prize winner will receive $3,000, with two finalists each collecting $1,500. The deadline to submit is April 1.

–Narratively is accepting submissions for their 2023 Profile Prize contest. They are looking for profile pieces that “tell the story of ordinary people or communities doing extraordinary things.” The grand prize winner will receive $3,000, and the two finalists will receive $1,000 each. There is a $20 entry fee and the deadline to submit is April 14.

FELLOWSHIPS AND INTERNSHIPS

-WNYC Studios’ Death, Sex & Money podcast is accepting applications for their summer internship program. Interns will pitch guest and episode ideas, create and upload social media content, and other tasks. The internship pays $17.50 per hour, and interns are expected to work 35 hours per week. The deadline to apply is March 15.

JOBS

NEW YORK

–Elite Daily is hiring an entertainment editor to shape their TV, movies, celebrity, and music coverage. Candidates should be “extremely online” and have at least three years of experience assigning, writing, and editing news or feature stories. The salary range is $63,500-$70,000. No deadline for applications was given for this role.

-The Center for an Urban Future is hiring a staff editor to “provide editorial support for all of [their] written products, including long-form policy reports, policy and data briefs, commentaries and op-eds,” and more. Candidates should have at least three years of writing experience. The salary range is $65,000-$90,000, commensurate with experience. No deadline for applications was given for this role.

–New York Focus is hiring an Albany-based state government reporter to “expose how decisions in Albany are made.” Candidates should have some “experience in political reporting, whether at the state, local, or national level.” The salary range is $60,000-$70,000. The deadline to apply is “no later than March 9, and earlier if you can.”

CHICAGO

–The Chicago Reader is hiring a news editor to work with freelance and staff writers to publish multiple stories per week. Candidates should have some journalism experience, and “newsroom management experience is preferred.” The salary is $50,000 for the news editor and the position is unionized. The deadline to apply has been extended to TOMORROW, February 24.

WASHINGTON, DC

-Free Press is hiring a journalism program manager to help manage their Media Power Collaborative, including publishing and promoting their own original ideas and analysis. Candidates should have at least three years of experience in a nonprofit public interest organization and “Spanish language fluency is a plus.” The salary range is $65,000-$75,000, and the position is on a two-year fixed contract. The deadline to apply is this Tuesday, February 28.

REMOTE-FRIENDLY

–NerdWallet is hiring a copy editor to edit and publish content for non-U.S. readers on a variety of personal finance topics on their International Expansion team. Candidates should have at least three years of copy editing experience, and some “previous experience with Canada or Australia in any capacity” is preferred. The salary range is $70,000-$107,000. The position can be remote or based in San Francisco, CA. No deadline for applications was given for this role.

–Recharge News is hiring a senior energy journalist to cover renewable energy and the global energy transition. Candidates should have some experience in energy journalism, “either in renewables, oil and gas, or nuclear,” and an ability to travel both domestically and internationally. The salary range is $75,000-$80,000.  The position can be based in one of their three satellite US offices in Houston, Stamford, or Seattle, or can be based in their London office. No deadline for applications was given for this role.

-The Freedom of the Press Foundation is hiring a deputy director of advocacy to write blogs posts, op-eds, newsletters, and social media content, and expand their audience on new platforms. Candidates should have at least four years of experience in advocacy, journalism, First Amendment law, or a related field. The salary range is $80,000-$95,000.