Contributor guidelines

Thank you for your interest in writing for J-Source. We work with everyone from established voices to emerging talent from journalism schools and beyond to produce original news, research, commentary, advice and resources about media in Canada.

A strong pitch would include a summary of the story and angle, a working headline and nut graf, who you plan to talk to, how you’ll approach the reporting and a little about you. 

At J-Source, we endeavour to publish material written and researched from points of view not always represented in the media landscape. Emerging writers from diverse backgrounds are highly encouraged to submit. 

We’re always interested in working with new writers and engaged journalism students. If it’s your first time pitching but you have a compelling idea and think you’re the right person to tackle it, tell us why! We do encourage students with less pitching experience to consult an instructor or professor to review their submission and help you strengthen your proposal. In the end, don’t hesitate to reach out.

We also republish student and academic reporting and research that examines journalism in Canada. If you’d like to submit work that you completed for course credit, please specify in your pitch what stage the draft is in and whether or not it has been edited by an instructor.

Have an idea for exploring media issues? What to pitch us:

• Short features
• Service pieces
• Analysis
• Special projects: If you have an idea that looks at an important or under-reported media issue that you believe warrants a more involved treatment than a single written story – whether it’s a series that examines different areas of a topic, a long form or multimedia piece, or a piece of reporting that requires additional supports such as technical or legal expertise – we want to hear from you! 

We can’t guarantee we can accommodate breaking news pitches. Some versions of news pitches we may accept include scoops and longer reported treatments of yesterday’s news that offer a fresh angle or additional context that can bolster our readers’ understanding of recent events.

J-Source also accepts pitches for French language content on a rolling basis. If your story is best suited for a French audience or merits translation into French, please indicate so in your letter.

Rate structure

Compensation for submissions currently starts at $350 for analysis and $400 for reported stories. Rates will be discussed with you during the pitching process. 

If you have an idea for a special project that entails more in-depth work than a traditional story or feature and may require a larger budget, please approach us so we can determine together how to move forward. 

Submissions from experts such as those representing research institutions and journalism school faculty are unpaid.

You retain the rights to your own work. 

Ready to pitch? Have any questions?

Write us at info@j-source.ca