Call for pitches

Floodlight is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom that investigates the corporations and political interests stalling climate action. We provide our stories at no charge to other news organizations, and we often partner with news outlets including NPR, The Guardian and others.

We are currently soliciting pitches for investigations into the plastics industry.

We are looking for freelancers to pitch 1,000- to 2,000(ish)-word investigations into plastics. These can include but are not limited to plastic-related pollution, effects on public health, plastic-industry influence and political lobbying, misinformation and disinformation campaigns and greenwashing.

We will pay $2 per word for the published version of the story. Please note the story may go through multiple rounds of edits and fact-checking prior to publication.

We are aiming to publish your investigation in January, so get your pitches in ASAP!

Note: We will only accept pitches with a clear accountability angle. And we will prioritize stories that highlight environmental injustices to vulnerable communities. 

Here are some examples of plastics stories that would fit our requirements:

1. How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled, NPR/PBS Frontline

2. The Recycling Myth: Big Oil’s solution for plastic waste littered with failure, Reuters

3. Invisibles: The Plastic Inside Us, Orb Media

4. John Hill and the Tobacco-Oil-Plastic Triangle, Drilled

5. Big Oil Is in Trouble. Its Plan: Flood Africa With Plastic. New York Times

To pitch us a story, please fill out this Google form. It will ask for a short description of the story, a copy of your resume or a link to your LinkedIn profile and links to three (3) writing samples. If you have other questions, feel free to reach out to Floodlight Editor-in-chief Brad Racino at brad@floodlightnews.org.