Pitch India-related Stories to Bellingcat
Bellingcat is considering pitches for open-source investigative reports from India. This includes, but is not limited to human rights issues, extremism and stories related to the environment (for example, impacts of excessive coal or sand mining) and climate change.
Before you pitch, please acquaint yourself with Bellingcat’s website and the topics we cover as well as Editorial Standards and our Pitch Template (included below). We do not have a lot of restrictions when it comes to what kind of stories we cover, since open-source topics are endless, but please ensure that your story has a new revelation, clearly identifies harm/ wrongdoing, and it mostly relies on information that is publicly accessible (open source).
Bellingcat’s editorial process is rigorous, so please ensure you familiarise yourself with our standards on impartiality, transparency, plagiarism and other key elements of any Bellingcat piece. You can expect your draft to go through several revisions for clarity, accuracy and readability and you will be expected to respond to edits in a timely manner. Your piece will be carefully fact-checked.
What are the kinds of stories we are looking for?
We want to expand our coverage of India and you can pitch almost anything (and everything) related to India as long as the investigation follows the rules of open-source research. This means all data and information employed in the story can be accessed both by you and your readers (even if the access may not be equal at all times like with high resolution satellite imagery). Our motto is ‘show your reader what you found’. No anonymous tips or sources revealing all. We also do not accept anonymous quotes by sources.
Some examples of topics you can pitch to us include – but are not limited to – stories related to human rights abuses, environment and climate change, and online or offline extremism. Please go through our content to ensure that we have not already published a similar story. You may wish to refer to how we have covered other parts of the world, although we also encourage pitches related to India on topics that we have not covered before, as long as they are based on open-source research.
Note that this is a call to pitch us stories and not an idea. You should have completed most of the research and are looking for a home for your story.
How should you pitch?
Send us a pitch with the details to your story–what is the central message? Has the topic been reported before? If yes, what are the new revelations and why are they important? What is the harm or wrongdoing? What tools or methods did you employ to find the information? Your story should also have a title. Try to keep your pitch between 250 and 500 words.
Also include a short bio of yourself with the pitch and past work, if any. We want to get to know you and your work. If you have expertise in the topic you are pitching, this is the place to tell us. That being said, we encourage people from all backgrounds to approach us. You do not need to have years of experience to be able to publish your work.
Please find our pitch template below.
How long should your story be?
We do not have a strict word limit for stories but try to keep it under 2,000 words. Your piece should be as succinct as possible, providing information in well-written, clear, straightforward prose. It can be helpful to imagine this piece is for a print publication, where space is limited, and use this as a guide to ensure that you only include the essential details, ensuring you maintain the reader’s attention. Avoid repetition, jargon and opinions. Please pay attention to our style by going through our content.
Co-Publication
Bellingcat has a strong history of collaborating with local news partners and we welcome collaborations and partnerships. This can be with local or regional media or larger publications in any language that produce content in print, radio, online or any other medium. Our main criteria is that our partners have rigorous ethical and editorial standards. We also expect a Memorandum of Understanding and Non-Disclosure Agreement will be signed with each of our partners.
Reporters and partners must follow internationally recognized ethical and professional standards of investigative reporting. That includes but is not limited to standards that prohibit the use of lying, stealing, hacking, misrepresentation, paying sources, undercover recording, buying non-public data or other controversial news gathering processes.
The support should you expect from Bellingcat
As mentioned earlier, we are not looking for ideas or topics to explore. Pitch us stories that you have already developed or are well into the research phase for. With a limited number of researchers at Bellingcat, we support collaborative efforts, but this is YOUR story, and you will take the lead as the author. This means that while we will offer help, you should take charge.
Please include in your pitch the support you are looking for from Bellingcat. Do you need access to high resolution satellite images? Does your story have a data angle that the tech team can help with? Do you wish to speak to a specific researcher at Bellingcat whose work aligns with yours?
If your pitch is accepted, our editors will work with you to shape the story. Please note that we are a small team and will not always be able to respond immediately to pitches.
Where should you send the pitch?
Send your pitch to: editors@bellingcat.com
How much does Bellingcat pay for stories?
Bellingcat can pay a fee to contributors for their work, which can be negotiated on commission depending on the length, complexity and amount of work carried out for a story.
Article Pitch Template
| INTRODUCTION | An explanation of the subject and the focus of your idea. How is it new? Why is your topic important for Bellingcat’s audience? Who are the researchers involved? What is your working title? |
| MINIMUM STORY | Spell out the most basic findings that your article would include. These may be findings that you’ve already made. |
| MAXIMUM STORY | Lay out your most ambitious, impactful idea for your article. These may be findings that you are expecting to make with more time to research. Dream big! |
| RESOURCES | What multimedia elements do you plan to use (pictures, maps, videos, audio, infographics)? Any ideas on how to present your story on social media? |
| EXPECTED TIMELINE | If your pitch is accepted, when do you think that you’ll be able to submit a first draft? |
| EDITOR’S COMMENTS | |
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