Sunday, July 14th 2024
High Country News is a non-profit magazine covering the Western US. They’re seeking longform feature, profile and investigative pitches about Alaska from Alaska Native and Alaska-based journalists. There can and should be “a strong focus on Indigenous communities and perspectives, and successful pitches will come from those with deep connections with the people/places in the proposed story.” They’re particularly interested in “conservation and environment stories, stories with accountability components, or stories with relevance for the upcoming election season or the environment.” They also “love any stories in the realm of the weird and the wonderful.” They pay $1 per word for reported content and $0.50 per word for essays and reviews. To learn more, refer to their editor-in-chief’s post and their submission guidelines.
Tuesday, May 7th 2024
High Country News is a non-profit magazine covering the Western US. They’re seeking “diverse narratives and original reporting that help illuminate the wonders and challenges of living in the Western U.S. in the 21st century.” They pay $1 per word for reported content and $0.50 per word for essays and reviews. Their rates for print and web are the same. To learn more, refer to their editor-in-chief’s post and their updated submission guidelines.
Tuesday, March 5th 2024
High Country News is a non-profit magazine covering the Western US. Their editor is seeking under-reported stories (800 to 1,500 words) about “recent immigrants from Latin America to the West.” Pay is $1 per word. If interested, email your pitches to raksha.vasudevan@hcn.org. To learn more, refer to their editor’s post and their submission guidelines.
Deadline: March 15th, 2024
Tuesday, July 18th 2023
High Country News is a non-profit magazine covering the Western US. They’re seeking pitches from Southwestern writers. If you have “a likely HCN story in AZ, CA, CO, NM, NV, UT, or the borderlands”, then send them your pitches. They pay $0.50-$1.50 per word for front-of-book reportage, news, and analysis (650-1,500 words) and a flat rate of $400 for essays and perspectives (750-800 words). To learn more, refer to their editor’s tweet and their submission guidelines.
Tuesday, May 16th 2023
High Country News is a non-profit
magazine covering the Western US. They’re seeking story pitches for their
special issue on climate. The issue will “highlight stories of agency +
collective action in the fight to decarbonize the West and the efforts to adapt
to a changing climate in equitable ways.” Their aim is for the stories to “explore
new frameworks for thinking about climate futures.” They will offer a project
fee based on $1 per word for reportage and $0.50 per word for reflection. If
interested, email your pitches to paigeb@hcn.org
or emilyb@hcn.org. To learn more, refer to
their senior editor’s Twitter thread
and their submission guidelines.
Deadline: June 5th, 2023
Tuesday, March 14th 2023
High Country News is a non-profit magazine covering the Western US. They’re always interested in “pitches for stories in the Southwest where ecology, place and culture/identity intersect.” They pay $1 per word for 650 to 2,000 words (shorter is better). Send your pitches to paigeb@hcn.org. To learn more, read their senior editor’s tweet and their submission guidelines.
Thursday, January 5th 2023
High Country News is a non-profit magazine covering the Western US. Their senior editor is looking to assign an on-the-ground story (800 to 1,400 words) on flooding in California. They want smart, unexpected angles. Bonus points for pieces that center under-represented perspectives. Rate is $1 per word. If interested, send your pitches as soon as possible to paigeb@hcn.org. Read their senior editor’s tweet here and their submission guidelines here.
Monday, June 13th 2022
This magazine publishes work about
the Western United States. According to a recent Twitter thread by their South
Desk Editor, they are looking to assign a few stories as part of a series on
labor and an adapting Western workforce. “The goal of this project is to
examine the nature of changing work in the Western US by profiling subjects
whose jobs are adapting, emerging or fading. The covid-19 pandemic, technology,
emerging industries and a shifting energy regime have drastically morphed the
labor force of the country — and particularly in the West. The series will
capture a mosaic of such a central quality to Western life: work. Each story
should capture some element of change – whether in the work itself or in the
environment in which the work is done. Profiles should feel unexpected, explore
new angles and give new voice to under-covered jobs, communities and people.
... Your pitch should be framed as a profile of a worker and the right scope to
run between 800-1,000 words for a flat fee of $1,000.” Details here (general pitch guidelines) and here (Twitter thread).
Deadline: June 22nd, 2022
Saturday, June 11th 2022
High Country News is a non-profit magazine covering the Western US. In the coming weeks, they are looking to assign some stories as part of “a series on labor and an adapting Western workforce.” The goal of the project is to “examine the nature of changing work in the Western US by profiling subjects whose jobs are adapting, emerging or fading.” They will pay a flat rate of $1,000 per piece (between 800 and 1,000 words). If interested, send your pitches to paigeb@hcn.org. For more information, refer to this Twitter thread and their submission guidelines.
Deadline: June 22nd, 2022
Tuesday, December 28th 2021
They accept pitches for in-depth reportage, analysis, opinion, essays or
criticism under a number of broad frameworks, ranging from science and
nature, conservation and preservation, food and agriculture to environmental
justice and racism, and economics. FOB stories include in-depth news and
analysis. Features include investigations, long-form narrative, deep-dive
explainers, or big-idea essays. The back of the book is where they explore the
ideas that shape the West, through reviews, criticism and short essays. According
to the editorial calendar in their 2022 Media Kit for advertisers, the August
2022 issue theme is education; for September 2022 it is books;
and the November 2022 edition will have a gift guide. Their pay rates are
$0.25-1.50/word; essays, perspectives, and op-eds pay $400. Details here (general guidelines) and here (Media Kit).
(They are also looking
for a Climate Justice Fellow – a paid, remote position for an
early-career journalist living in the Western United States – see guidelines
for details.)
Friday, April 16th 2021
This
magazine focuses on the modern American West. They accept pitches for in-depth
reportage, analysis, opinion, essays or criticism under a number of broad
frameworks, ranging from science and nature, conservation and preservation,
food and agriculture to environmental justice and racism, and economics. FOB
stories include in-depth news and analysis. Features include investigations,
long-form narrative, deep-dive explainers, or big-idea essays. The back of the
book is where they explore the ideas that shape the West, through reviews,
criticism and short essays. Issue themes, according to their editorial calendar
in the media kit, are: Education & Enlightenment (Degrees,
certificates, workshops, & retreats) for August 2021; Reading the West
(Books, blogs, podcasts, & publications) for September 2021; and The
Gearhead’s Gift Guide (Clothing, gear, footwear, packs, accessories, &
tech) for November 2021. Pay is usually $0.25-1.50/word and they pay a kill
fee; essays and perspectives pay a flat fee of $400. They say their budget for freelance features is limited this year
due to Covid-related cutbacks, but they are “committed to helping freelance
writers apply for funding from outside organizations, to ensure that they are
paid a robust rate. When pitching, please include any ideas for additional
funding, and if the pitch is accepted HCN will be active in
seeking out opportunities, assisting on applications, and grant reporting
following the publication of the story.” Details here (writer guidelines) and here (download media kit/editorial calendar).
Friday, November 20th 2020
Currently, they are looking for “original personal essays & perspectives
(800-1600 words long) ... We publish engaging writing about the Western U.S.
from diverse perspectives.” This magazine focuses on the modern American West.
They also accept pitches for in-depth reportage, analysis, opinion, essays or
criticism under a number of broad frameworks, ranging from science and
nature, conservation and preservation, food and agriculture to environmental
justice and racism, and economics. FOB stories include in-depth news and
analysis. Features include investigations, long-form narrative, deep-dive
explainers, or big-idea essays. The back of the book is where they explore the
ideas that shape the West, through reviews, criticism and short essays.
For the current call (see this Twitter thread), they will pay
$0.50/word. Their general pay rates are $0.25-1.50/word. Details here (general guidelines).
Thursday, November 19th 2020
High Country News is a non-profit
magazine covering the Western US. Their associate editor is seeking original
personal essays and perspectives (800 to 1,600 words). They will pay about $0.50 per
word. For details, refer to this Tweet and
their submission guidelines.