Pitch Us

Bay Area Current is composed of four sections: 

1. CULTURE (art, music, TV, film, theater, dance, sports, food, culture workers, subcultures, vibes)
2. LABOR (organizing, strikes, workers’ stories, local labor history)
3. POLITICS (housing, immigration, police, climate, health, transit)
4. ANTI-TECH (AI, tech bros, Silicon Valley, the way the tech industry impacts real life)

Things we are looking for: a local angle, voicey writing, directness, a sense of place, stakes, good characters, things we’ve never read about before

Things we are not looking for: academic writing, leftist jargon or jargon more generally, things that are very long

A few tips for a successful pitch:

• Read our published stories to get an idea of the work we're looking for.
• Keep your pitch short (under 500 words). 
• Have a plan for how you’re going to pull it off.

Our rates are roughly the following: $50 for a short piece (< 800 words), $100 for a medium piece (800-1,500 words), and $200 for longer reported features (1,500 words +). We pay $100 for 800-1,000 word op-eds.

Pitches are reviewed on a weekly basis. Our editorial team will try to get back to you within one week of submission (though it could take up to two weeks). Time-sensitive pitches will be reviewed as soon as possible.

If you have a tip you think we should look into email us at tips@bayareacurrent.com with “TIP” in the subject line. You can also contact us securely at bayareacurrent@proton.me.