SamiaNewsroom
Pitch the desk

Reporters and researchers

Pitch what
you know.

The desk commissions reporters, researchers and people who know a subject from the inside. Paid per piece; rates agreed in writing before commissioning. Here is what we want, how to send it, and what happens next.

Send a pitch ↗The terms ↓

What we commission

Four kinds
of piece.

Say which one you are pitching. Lengths are a guide, not a rule; a piece is as long as its evidence and no longer.

Report

What happened

Reported from documents and named people. For the World and Regions desks. Usually 800 to 2,000 words.

Explainer

How something works

A question in the headline, the answer in the first paragraph, the evidence after it. Usually 900 to 1,500 words.

Analysis

What it means

A reasoned reading of sourced facts, by someone with standing to make it. Usually 1,000 to 2,000 words.

Progress item

What got better

For the Friday letter: a place, a number, a date, the people, a primary source. Usually 80 to 150 words.

What a pitch contains

Three paragraphs.
No attachments.

Put it in the body of an email to [email protected] with "Pitch" in the subject line. We reply to every pitch.

  1. 1
    The idea, in two sentences

    What the piece will say, and which of the four kinds it is. If you cannot say it in two sentences, it is not ready.

  2. 2
    Why it matters, and what is new

    Who is affected and how. What a reader will know after it that they did not before.

  3. 3
    Why you, and what sources you already have

    Your connection to the subject, in one honest paragraph. Name the primary sources you have in hand; the desk does not commission on the hope of finding them.

How a piece gets made

Five steps.
No surprises.

The same route for every piece and every writer, so nobody is surprised by an edit, a check or a bill.

  1. PitchThree paragraphs by email. A yes comes with a rate and a deadline, in writing.
  2. ReportYou write in your own voice and keep a numbered list of sources as you go.
  3. EditAn editor works with you on structure and clarity, never on the facts or the argument.
  4. CheckA second person checks every claim against its sources. You see every query.
  5. PublishYou approve the final page, and your name is on it. Payment follows the written agreement you receive with the rate.

The terms

What you can count on.
What we will not do.

Plain terms, agreed before you start. We do not publish rate cards because rates depend on the piece; we do put the rate in writing before a word is written.

What you can count on

  • Paid per piece. The rate is agreed in writing before you start.
  • Payment timing and rights are set out in the written agreement you receive with the rate.
  • You see the final page before it goes live, and nothing is published without your approval.
  • A second person checks every claim, and you see every query before anything is changed.
  • Your name on the piece, with one line about who you are, written by you.

What we will not commission

  • Opinion without evidence. Analysis is welcome; it has to show its sources and its reasoning.
  • Claims you cannot source. If the primary document does not exist or you cannot reach it, pitch something else.
  • Anonymous sourcing without a reason we can print on the piece.
  • Anything not reported first-hand or from documents you have read. People write every word the Newsroom publishes.
  • Pieces about businesses the house works with, unless the relationship is stated at the top.

Ready? Send it.

Three paragraphs in the body of an email, "Pitch" in the subject line, to [email protected]. A person reads it. If it is for the Progress desk, say so, and name the primary source.

[email protected]

Read the desk first

See what
we publish.

One email when the first edition is out, then the Progress letter every Friday. Nothing else, and you can leave with one click.