Where do I send submissions?
Send submissions here.

What does New Matilda publish?
We seek submissions on political and social issues in Australia and the world — writing that is witty not whingeing, independent not ideological, brave not bland. There's never been more news available to Australian readers — but too much is being left out.

We publish breaking news and stories which provide background and context to current affairs. We don't reproduce material that is available in other outlets or that has already appeared on New Matilda. We do publish commentary pieces but in an online environment which already offers Australian readers plenty of opinion-driven writing, we are keen to focus on journalism. Stories which feature original research, fresh thinking, new ideas and sharp arguments are most likely to catch our attention and that of our readers.

Style
Avoid jargon, dot points, numbered paragraphs and unexplained acronyms. Avoid long quotations unless they are vital. Please assume you are writing for a non-expert but engaged readership. Most, but not all, New Matilda readers are based in Australia.

Does New Matilda publish unsolicited contributions?
Yes. We're happy to read complete articles which conform to these guidelines but you will get a quicker response if you send a brief pitch outlining your story.

If you're a NM first-timer, have a look around the site to get a feel for the kind of material we do publish to make sure we are the right forum for your work. In particular, make sure that we haven't already run a story similar to the one you are proposing.

Is there anything that New Matilda doesn't publish?
As a rule, we don't publish reviews unless they are clearly and closely related to the news cycle. We don't publish fiction or poetry. New Matilda is primarily a news website and when we do run cultural criticism or historical pieces, the connection to the events of the day must be clearly marked.

How long should I wait for a response?
Up to a week. New Matilda is run by a small team and we're not always able to respond to pitches immediately, particularly if your submission is not closely tied to the news cycle. If you haven't heard from us in a week, feel free to give us a nudge.

Article specifications
The stories we run are generally 800 to 1200 words long. Unsolicited pieces can be submitted to a maximum length of 1200 words. Commissioned pieces can be longer, pending negotiation.

New Matilda editorial process
New Matilda rarely publishes articles in the form that we receive them, especially from first time contributors. Authors should expect requests for clarification and references. We frequently ask authors to revise and to redraft whole articles and often our editorial process involves significant cuts to original documents. This process may involve several stages of revision and can take place over several weeks or a single morning. On a story that is time specific, we may ask authors to redraft work on very short notice. We do all that we can to make sure that authors see the final version of their stories before they are published. New Matilda editors write headlines and teasers for our stories. We note that sending back a story with a request for a rewrite is not necessarily an agreement to publish that story.

Payment
Payment may be negotiated for commissioned work only. Many writers, illustrators and cartoonists continue to donate their work to New Matilda and we thank them for their generosity.

References
We fact check all articles we publish and we ask writers to reference their articles as scrupulously as possible by providing web links to sources. If you don't attribute statistics, media reports, quoted material, websites etc., we will send your article back with requests for references. Don't embed hyperlinks but rather include URLs in square brackets within the text.

Please do not include footnotes.

Anonymity
New Matilda publishes anonymous material only under exceptional circumstances but if essential, anonymity will be protected.

How to submit
The best way to pitch ideas and submit stories is via email: writeforusATnewmatilda.com. Include your name, contact details and a short bio. Please submit articles in MS Word compatible format (with no weird formatting such as columns).

You must warrant that your work is original, has not been published elsewhere (including online), does not breach copyright nor defame any person. New Matilda will not publish material that is untrue, seeks to defame or has an axe to grind.

Images
New Matilda editors will source images to illustrate your story. If you have original images to accompany the article, we may publish them with attribution. Please do not send images with pitches or unsolicited contributions.

Multimedia Content
We can run photo essays and videos on New Matilda. Email an outline of your multimedia proposals to writeforusATnewmatilda.com.

Copyright
Articles may be reproduced elsewhere but we ask that New Matilda is attributed with first publication.

I am a New Matilda contributor, can I update my author biography?
Yes you can. Log in to the site and select your user Preferences. Then select Account Settings > Personal Information. You can update the bio field here and if you like, you can upload a photo too.

Liability & Indemnity
(a) To the extent permitted by law Cordell Media Pty Ltd, trading as New Matilda, accepts no responsibility or liability in relation to any material submitted for publication.

(b) Cordell Media Pty Ltd, trading as New Matilda, does not indemnify contributors against any legal action brought against contributors as a result of the publication of material submitted by them unless otherwise agreed to in writing by Cordell Media Pty Ltd.

(c) By submitting material for publication in New Matilda contributors agree to fully indemnify Cordell Media Pty Ltd against any expenses, costs, losses (including consequential loss) or damages that may be suffered or incurred as a result of the publication of the submitted material.

Read our full Terms and Conditions here.