Chicagoist Is Looking For Contributors
By Staff in News on Feb 2, 2016 5:00PM
Chicagoist is expanding and deepening our coverage of Chicago, and we're paying. We are also looking for writers with blogging experience who can fill in for full-time shifts, particularly on weekends.
For freelance pitches, we want original, compelling, heartbreaking, funny, enraging, enlightening work, written clearly and with an eye towards stories that cut through the dull hum of the internet—stories that help the reader better understand Chicago and the people living here. It should not have been published anywhere else in print or online. Here are some recent examples from our NYC sister site, Gothamist.
A well-sourced, 1,500-word indictment of the city's budget woes is just as welcome as a 500-word profile of on a fascinating neighborhood character. We want the gems buried at the bottom of Kafka-esque City Council meetings and the life-affirming acts of kindness often obscured by the relentless crush of humanity; the secret history of your favorite small business or cross-town brewery rivals; an urban explorer's tales of sifting through the city's ruins; the joy of training docents for Chicago's architecture tours to the hazards of keeping The Bean shiny and clean.
We're looking for writers who not only have a pulse on local arts scenes—whether it's music, theater or comedy—but the news sense and storytelling skills to make what is happening in those worlds riveting for a general audience. Even better if you can help us with our mission to tell stories and publish voices from all over the city.
We're also interested in buying photo features along the lines of the topics mentioned above.
You should be as excited writing or pitching your story as we are reading it. The only thing we don't want (at the moment) is fiction. Pay depends on experience, quality, and length. Please go here to share a submission or pitch. (Due to the high volume of pitches we receive, we regret that we are unable to reply to every submission.)
For contributors interested in filling in, please email us at tips@chicagoist.com with the subject line "Fill In." Let us know any relevant experience you have, what shifts you would be available for and send us links to at least five clips. No attachments.