Here’s how to freelance a story with IndigiNews

IndigiNews is holding space for Indigenous Storytellers to join our team and contribute stories in a safe and supported way. Image by Kelsie Kilawna

IndigiNews is intentionally creating a new approach to journalism. We’re focused on relationship building, uplifting storytelling, trauma-informed practice and holding colonial institutions accountable.

We are a place where stories that centre Indigenous people are heard, understood, and respected. We published our first story in May of 2020, and have shared hundreds since.

Now, we’re looking to support folks beyond our core team to share stories. We welcome ideas for news stories, feature stories, investigations or photo essays that are in line with our intentions. IndigiNews stories typically range from 500-2000 words.

Currently, our team is focused on serving people living on traditional territories throughout the Okanagan and Vancouver Island, so our editors are familiar with the regional specific context and can support stories in those areas. That said, if you’re outside of those areas and have a story that you think needs to be told, we’d still love to hear from you.

Here are some examples of the kind of work that we do:

We want to work with storytellers of all kinds: journalists, photographers, creative writers and community members with something to share. We especially welcome pitches from Indigenous writers and often work with emerging voices to support their process, so please don’t hesitate to reach out with your ideas.

Before pitching to IndigiNews, please familiarize yourself with our 10 intentions. You can also learn more about our team and check out this pitch template.

Guidelines for pitching to IndigiNews:

Send a 300-500 word paragraph to stories@indiginews.com that describes the who, where, when, why, why now, and how of your story idea. We want to know who is involved in the story, who is impacted, where and when something took place, why the story is relevant to people now, and how you envision your story being shared.

Tell us whether your story is timeless or timely. Timeless stories in the journalism world are stories that always have mattered, matter now and always will matter. A timely story is a story that is relevant right now, in our current political, social or economic reality.

We are visually-rich storytellers. We love photos, videos and audio. Can your story be told with visuals? If so, do you already have photos you can send in your pitch, or can you describe what visual aids we could incorporate in the story? Tell us about that, too.

We hope to get to know you in this process, so tell us a bit about who you are and why this story is important to you. If you have previous experience, include a couple of links to your work. And let us know if you’ve pitched or sent the story elsewhere.

We will typically follow up with you within three weeks (less if it’s a time-sensitive story) if we are interested in the pitch. We aim to respond to everyone, but due to the volume of pitches we receive, if you don’t hear back within two weeks you can assume your story has not been accepted at this time. We’re a small team and we intend to accept 2-3 freelance stories per month — for now. As we grow, we hope to expand our ability to support more storytelling.

If your story is accepted:

IndigiNews shares stories that are trauma-informed and culturally-sensitive. Often, especially when we start working with a new storyteller, we like to have a discussion about steps to get there. This might include making a plan to ensure anyone you’re interviewing for the story is cared for before, during and after publication. We’re also happy to provide support throughout your process as needed.

You will file the story to an assigning editor, and our team will work with you to get the story ready for publication. Typically a story will go through at least two edits and fact-checking. We strive to report the truth fairly and accurately. We take the time to scour all available resources to ensure the integrity of the stories we tell. When there are allegations made, we will speak to all people and parties in question. This ensures that all those involved have knowledge about what is said and have a voice in the story.

Once it’s ready, the piece will be published on the IndigiNews website, and may also be republished by one of our partner organizations: The Discourse and/or APTN.

A rate will be arranged when the story is accepted, and you will invoice us for the story upon publication. IndigiNews pays freelancers on a sliding scale, usually between $250 – $1000 depending on a story’s length, quality of images, depth and estimated time for completion.

We are so excited to grow our community of storytellers in 2022. And as we do, we will continue to work tirelessly to be a part of a community that strengthens our understanding of one another, and that builds bridges rather than walls, through the ancestral power of storytelling.