Pitch a Sprawl pop-up!
We want your freelance pitches (and have budget!)
Journalists! Writers! Photographers! Illustrators! Radio/video makers!
Do you want to tell a Calgary story and be paid for your work? Yes and yes? Let’s chat.
Thanks to our monthly supporters, along with funds we’re receiving from Ryerson University and Facebook this summer through the Digital News Innovation Challenge, we now have a budget for freelancers. This is sorely needed in Calgary, given the state of local journalism.
If you’re not yet a Sprawl supporter, sign up today to support independent Calgary journalism!
Simply put, we don’t want to go down the road of asking people to write for nothing (a.k.a. “exposure”) or next-to-nothing. It’s a bad road, so let’s just barricade it off right away.
We want to do better. We think Calgary can do better. We want to publish good journalism and pay creators fairly for their work.
What to consider when pitching
Here’s what you need to know before pitching a Sprawl pop-up.
A good Sprawl story is an in-depth local story that hasn’t yet been widely told, whether it’s a city hall investigation or a well-crafted piece about a certain person, neighbourhood or social issue. It’s a story that illuminates the life of the city in some way.
It can also be a story that brings deeper insight and care to something that’s been merely glanced over in other media.
We don’t do press release journalism or hot takes. Be sure to read the Sprawl Manifesto before pitching so you know our bent. As a rule, a story for the Sprawl needs to be more than just your casual opinion. It can (and should!) be analytical, but needs to be solidly rooted in reporting, research or, in the case of a personal essay, experience.
Here are our three formats:
Sprawl edition. A Sprawl edition is a series of articles (and sometimes a Sprawlcast too) organized around a single theme or story. Check out our website for examples of previous pop-up editions. Topics have included the 2017 election, the Olympic bid, and 17th Avenue. An edition usually runs over the course of one to three weeks.
Sprawlcast. Sprawlcast is a monthly radio show/podcast made in collaboration with CJSW 90.9 FM. It’s a chance to dig deep into one story or issue. Previous topics have included NIMBYism, the city’s makeover of 17th Avenue SW and the transit history of International Avenue.
Sprawl special. A special is a one-off story that doesn’t fall into the two previous categories but is still worth telling. Previous specials include protest coverage and a personal essay about walking to school.
If you have in mind a format we haven’t considered, let us know. We like shape-shifting and are always curious about using new platforms and formats for storytelling.
Please answer these three questions in your pitch: 1) What’s your idea in a nutshell? 2) What format do you have in mind — edition, Sprawlcast, special or something else? 3) Why should you be the one to tell this story? And we don’t mean that last question in a judgemental way. We mean: why is this story important to you? Include your background, experience, any past work you want us to see and so on.
Keep your pitch reasonably short and don’t be afraid to let your personality come out. Be yourself!
Send your pitch to sprawlcalgary@gmail.com. This is our first call for pitches, so we don’t know how many we’ll get and when we’ll be able to respond—but we’ll do our best!
—Jeremy Klaszus, editor
