For working reporters, stringers, and editors
Media68 buys original reporting from correspondents on the ground — politics, climate, culture, conflict, science — and reships it through our own newsroom, our translation desks, and a small set of named syndication partners. This page is the working brief for that desk, not a careers listing and not a marketing form. If you file, you'll be paid within fourteen days of acceptance; if we kill your piece after commissioning, you'll receive a half kill fee. Read it through before you write to us.
01 — Field manual
Four practical chapters. Skim them in order — pitch length, formats, embargoes, and translation rights — before you put a query in the mail.
§1.1
We accept pitches of 120 to 250 words. Lead with the scene, not the theme. Tell us what you have that other desks don't — access, documents, a fresh angle, original reporting from a place our competitors skipped. One reporter per pitch, no co-bylines proposed in the query. Three sample clips, with publication dates, attached at the bottom of the email. If you have filed for us before, two samples are enough.
§1.2
News brief: 600–900 words, filed same-day, on-the-record sources preferred. Reported feature: 1,800–2,800 words, two to four named on-the-record sources plus one primary document. Long-read: 3,500–5,500 words with a downloadable primary-source dossier. Photo essay: 12–24 frames with 80-word captions per image, plus a 400-word standfirst. Audio dispatch: 4–8 minutes, mono OK, no music beds. We do not commission op-eds or first-person essays.
§1.3
Embargoes are honoured to the minute. We do not break embargoes for traffic, and we will not publish a piece that violates a source's terms. If your story is exclusive, the embargo window is at most 72 hours from our publish time, and we agree it in writing before you file. We will not sit on an exclusive past its window — if we can't run it on the agreed beat, we release it back to you.
§1.4
First English-language rights, worldwide, for 90 days from publish. After 90 days, all rights return to you. We retain non-exclusive translation rights for our Spanish, Arabic, and French weekly editions during that 90-day window, with translator credited by name. If a piece is reshipped by a syndication partner during the window, those rights extend automatically for the partner's publication territory only — you remain the copyright holder.
03 — From pitch to payment
No mystery, no chasing. Here is what happens between your query email and the money landing in your account.
Beat 01
A section editor in Berlin or Mexico City reads every query. You will hear back within five working days: commission, hold, or pass. A "hold" means we like the angle but the news peg has moved; we tell you why and you can re-pitch.
Beat 02
On commission, you receive a short letter by email: agreed word count, agreed fee, agreed deadline, agreed delivery format. Nothing is left to handshake. Translation-window terms are written in the same letter.
Beat 03
If we commission a piece and then do not run it — for editorial reasons, a broken news peg, a source retraction — we pay a 50% kill fee within fourteen days. The full piece returns to you with all rights, and we do not reship it under another byline.
Beat 04
On acceptance of the filed draft, payment is processed within fourteen calendar days via bank transfer or PayPal, in EUR or USD at the reporter's choice. Invoice from a registered freelance business or a personal invoice both work.
04 — Practical questions
Four things we hear in almost every first exchange. Answered here so we can spend the rest of the email on the story.
For first rights, yes — 90 days from publish, English-language worldwide, after which all rights revert to you. We do not require exclusivity on the underlying reporting: you can take the same on-the-ground reporting to your own outlets at any time, provided the exact phrasing does not duplicate our published piece.
Yours. You can resell, repackage, translate, or re-publish the piece anywhere you like. We retain a non-exclusive archival right to keep the original English version live on Media68, with your byline and the original publish date preserved.
For stringers operating in conflict or hostile-environment zones, the commissioning letter can include a documented safety and equipment stipend on top of the word-rate, agreed in advance. We also maintain a referral list of press-freedom legal contacts and a vetted hostile-environment training partner — ask the assigning editor for the current list.
Every commissioned piece begins with a short COI note from the reporter — affiliations, paid work, family ties, institutional relationships with subjects of the reporting. The note is filed with the assigning editor and reviewed before publication. We do not require COI disclosure for general political affiliation; we do require it for any direct financial or institutional relationship with the people or organisations you are reporting on.
05 — Apply
Send a single email to the desk. Include a 120–250-word pitch, three recent clips with publication dates, your city and your working languages, and a one-line note on your conflict-of-interest status (full disclosure follows only on commission). We read everything within five working days.
Subject line: Pitch — [your country] — [working headline]. Attachments as PDFs, not Google Drive links. If you have not heard back in five working days, follow up once — we are a 22-person editorial board and we sometimes run late, but we do run.
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