It's time again to submit your story pitches to the Media Co-op! 

As we do every month, in May we will pay two contributors for news features to be published in the July 2011 edition of The Dominion (due out in mid-June). We prioritize solutions-oriented news pieces with a Canadian angle, including photo essays and video pitches. Pitches are welcome from anyone; priority for payment goes to those who have previously contributed.

How to pitch a story:

1. If you do not have a Media Co-op account (which you can also use to post photos, audio, video and stories directly to the Media Co-op site), you’ll need to set one up:

mediacoop.ca/user

2. Check out our writer’s guide for hot topics and details about writing for The Dominion:

dominionpaper.ca/write

For information about making a video pitch, check out our production guidelines and tutorials:

dominionpaper.ca/video/create

3. Peruse the latest Media Co-op discussion page for story ideas:

http://www.mediacoop.ca/group/1496/discuss/6031

4. Pitch! To pitch an article, fill out the form on this page:

mediacoop.ca/node/add/pitch

To pitch a video news clip, contact us with your proposal:

dominionpaper.ca/contact

A couple hot tips:

1. The Dominion has a special budget – sponsored by Koumbit, a non-profit web development, website creation, graphic design and IT training organization – to pay for one article about technology and society per month (in particular, we’re interested in coverage of copyright, privacy, free software, and net neutrality). These articles are 5-800 words, payment is a flat $50, and they follow the same pitch process outlined below.

2. As a member-run organization, Media Co-op has a vested interest in publishing stories our readers want to read. Our readers have been posting ideas for stories about co-operatives that should be told, and we want those stories! Take a look at the discussion page here:

mediacoop.ca/group/143/discuss/2001

Consider pitching a story you see here, or pitch us your own news story about an innovative co-op or the co-operative movement. If we like your pitch, we’ll pay you $100 to write the story!

The deal:

The Media Co-op currently pays a flat rate of $100 for accepted stories. Articles are either 800 or 1600 words. See the video guidelines for length of videos. Editors reserve the right to suggest changes and edit stories (with your participation, of course!). Pitches should capture the content, tone and style of the story you plan to submit; if the content submitted differs significantly from the pitch, editors reserve the right to withhold payment. The Dominion accepts pitches at any time.

Deadline for pitches: May 2
Response to pitches: May 4

First draft deadline for accepted articles: May16*

Final draft deadline: May 31*
(All deadlines are 5pm EST)

*Deadlines subject to the discretion of the editor

Also, as some of you are aware, after consultation with the Media Co-op's membership, we're reducing our number of annual issues to six (from eight). We'll still be soliciting content every month (and paying for two pieces), and we'll continue publishing original content to The Dominion site every Monday - Wednesday - Friday. In fact, our hope is that, in the near future, the savings from the reduced print-run will help fund more original content from contributors like you (more on that in the coming months, though).

Thanks again for your ongoing support and looking forward to reading your pitches!

Best,

Tim McSorley, on behalf of the editors