EachOther recognises that journalism in the UK is disproportionately white and male. There are some pathways for marginalised communities to have their voices heard, but the conversation around human rights is often still dominated by groups whose rights are less commonly at risk. EachOther aims to illuminate human rights issues from the perspectives of the communities most directly affected.
We launched The Inspired Source series as a pilot program in 2020. It was part of our work to amplify voices that are underrepresented in the media and marginalised by society. This marginalisation could be due to multiple factors, including – but not limited to – an individual’s gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, geography or disability. The series has become an integral part of EachOther’s work.
Recently, we bid for and secured a grant from the Law Society Charity that allows us to sustain the series and double the fee we pay for each article for the year ahead. We’re eager to hear more voices from an array of backgrounds to help us highlight human rights questions that our audience is passionate about.
Credit: Daniel Thomas / Unsplash
About The Inspired Source Series
At EachOther, we publish a wide range of content, from in-depth long reads to practical explainers about our rights. The Inspired Source is a series of opinion pieces, containing stories that are generally 400-800 words long and examine a human rights issue by which the writer or their community is affected. Preferably, since we believe in solutions-focused journalism, the writer should strike a position on how we can begin to address the issue highlighted and wrap the piece up by signposting towards actions that can be taken to address it.
EachOther is interested in marginalised writers who want their voice to be heard but are unsure of where to begin in a challenging industry. We’re primarily interested in aspiring and young writers looking for a path into the media, but we’re always open to hearing pitches from people from a wide range of backgrounds and life experiences.
We recognise that it is not the first job of marginalised people to solve problems posed and perpetuated by society at large. Enduring change will only come when those who benefit most from current structures take action. At the same time, we recognise the importance of highlighting lived experience in designing a better future. This series aims to offer a drawing board for that experience.
All of our stories focus on human rights issues in the UK and all of our writers must be based in the UK as well.
Before pitching a piece for The Inspired Source series, take a look at our website to get a sense of the sort of subjects we cover and have a read through our strategy for 2021 and beyond to see whether we’re the right fit for your idea. If you have thoughts on how to address some of the human rights challenges the UK faces or have a story you think fits with EachOther’s remit, pitch to us.
Here are a few examples of The Inspired Source stories that we have previously published:
How Disbelief Impacts Disabled People’s Rights
Another Year Away From Carni, From My People, From Myself
Why Men’s Football Is Still A Hostile Environment for Gay Players
What Do We Need To Know
Credit: Andrew Neel / Unsplash
Your pitch doesn’t have to be a detailed one. The idea could be big or small, it could be broad or specific and detailed. Perhaps you believe a government policy should be introduced or scrapped. Or that media organisations should change the way they report on a certain issue. Or that society needs to reflect on how it treats a particular group of people. We’re not expecting you to come up with all the answers, but we believe that the voices of people affected by issues must be heard when considering ways to move forward.
The Inspired Source series is less about reactive, breaking news. So, your pitch should have a sense of evergreen to it, so we can come back to the piece in six months or a year and still feel it is relevant.
The pitch should ideally be informed by your own personal experience and must be well-evidenced with independent research. If the idea is strong enough, we’re willing to workshop it with you.
Please do not send wholly or partially pre-written articles, as we cannot accept them.
How To Pitch To Us
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Keep the pitch to less than 300 words – two to three paragraphs – which should take us through:
- What is the human rights issue in the UK that you intend to write about?
- What is your idea for addressing it?
- What evidence will you draw upon in your piece?
- Why are you the person to write about this issue?
In the subject line of the email, please include the words: “Pitch: Inspired Source”. Please send your ideas to editorial@eachother.org.uk . We are a small team, so please allow two weeks before following up.
How We Operate
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To give both the writers and the editorial team enough opportunity to work together, we work a fair bit in advance. After a pitch is accepted, the article itself will typically be published a month or so later.
Sometimes we commission timely pieces to address topical issues arising in society, so occasionally our commissions will be on a fast turnaround. For example, if we commission a piece for an annual awareness day, we will want final copy for the piece submitted a couple of days before the date in question, at the latest.
Payment
As a small charity, we don’t have a lot of money floating around. We are actively pursuing funding to increase our overall commissioning budget and offer more opportunities for people to write for us. We are able to commission a maximum of four pieces for The Inspired Source series per month.
This means we may end up commissioning your piece for use in a couple of months’ time. It also means that, even if we like your idea, we might not always be able to say “yes”. Please don’t be offended: resources are limited but we do hope to be able to commission more in the future.
Recently, EachOther put a bid in to the Law Society Charity for a grant to support this series, which we are committed to continuing. We were excited to hear in the autumn that the bid had been approved. It will enable us to run The Inspired Source series for another year, throughout 2022, and to double the fee we pay its commissioned contributors. That will allow us better to recognise the value and importance we place on their work.
That means we will now pay £100 for each piece published in The Inspired Source series. As it is aimed at early-career, aspiring writers, we can also provide detailed feedback on your work by email or phone call to help you hone and develop your craft, if that is something you’d welcome. Please let us know if you’d like to speak with us in more detail about your pitch when you send it to us.
We will assess pitches on a rolling basis and aim to respond to each one within ten working days.
We look forward to hearing your ideas!
