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 elsewhere on the internet. We only publish original material. We do publish commentary pieces. Stories which feature original research, fresh thinking, new ideas and sharp arguments are most likely to catch our attention and that of our readers.

Pitches or completed articles?
New Matilda does not have the resources to deal with pitches at the moment, so we prefer completed submissions. You can pitch a brief synopsis to us, but it may take us time to respond, which will obviously reduce the chance of the story running if it’s linked to the news cycle.

Style
Avoid jargon 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.

Format
Articles should include links where relevant, but try not to ‘overlink’ a story. You don’t need to source every fact, just the major ones, and the ones you think will add to the story. If you do include links, they should be embedded into the text, like this: “This is a bit of sample text to show you how embedded links should be presented.” Please don’t hyperlink more than two or three words at a time. For example, this is a very bad way to hyperlink a story because too many words are included in the link.

Stories which are use single quotation marks to denote direct speech will not be considered for publication (unfortunately it takes us too long to fix them because there’s no simple way to search and replace). For example, ‘This is speech in single quotation marks’ and “this is speech in double quotation marks”.

Unfortunately we also don’t accept submissions with notations (for example text that includes notations like this [1]) . Writers must hyperlink relevant sources directly into the text, like this.

Does New Matilda publish unsolicited contributions?
Yes. We’re happy to read complete articles which conform to these guidelines. 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.

If your piece is approved for publishing, we’ll create an NM contributor account for you, and email the details. Every account MUST have a short bio (50 to 100 words) and a headshot, so it’s best to send that when you email the story (it speeds the process up enormously).

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. Unfortunately, we also tend not to publish satire these days (the post-truth world and all). There are occasional exceptions to the rule, but they’re very rare.

How long should I wait for a response?
Up to a week. New Matilda is run by a very small team and we’re not always able to respond to submissions immediately, particularly if it 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, but we do publish longer form pieces. Stories with shorter word counts generally get more reads, with one exception – well researched feature-style pieces get the most reads on New Matilda, because our readers like detail and depth. So write the story to the length you think it’s worth, but check with us first if it’s going to be an opus!

Payment
Payment may be negotiated for commissioned work. Many writers, illustrators and cartoonists continue to donate their work to New Matilda and we thank them for their generosity. One day, we hope to have enough income to pay every writer who appears on our site (that’s the dream!).

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

How to submit
The best way to submit stories is via email: writeforusATnewmatilda.com. Include your name, contact details and a short bio and small picture. Please submit articles in MS Word compatible format.

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 or which seeks to defame, and generally won’t publish content that has already been published elsewhere.

New Matilda is developing a policy on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in it’s research and writing. Until that policy is published (mid 2024), writers must declare to the editor if AI has been used in either the research or writing of a story. The editor may seek further information or clarification. New Matilda currently does not accept contributions that have been wholly or substantially written by AI.

You must also declare to the editor any real or perceived conflicts of interest/s. This could include (but is obviously not limited to) things like relationships to subjects in the story; pecuniary interests; or any otherwise unknown information which would be relevant in the minds of an average reader. New Matilda reserves the right to expose attempts to subvert this policy.

Images
New Matilda editors will source images to illustrate your story. If you have original images to accompany the article, we’d love to publish them with attribution, but you must hold the copyright or have permission for publication.

Multimedia Content
We do 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 with your contributor’s account (which is supplied to you by us) and update the bio field. Every contributor account MUST include a photo as well.

My byline does not appear on an older article. How can I fix it?
In 2015, New Matilda switched from a Drupal platform to WordPress. Unfortunately, one of the data fields we lost in the changeover was bylines. So many articles prior to October 2015 now display as having been written by ‘New Matilda’ (the default setting). If you find an article you wrote that is not linked to your author profile, please notify us here. Please include a list of links to the relevant stories. If you don’t have an account on the new site, please also send a brief bio and a headshot and we’ll relink you and create you a shiny new New Matilda contributor’s account.

Liability & Indemnity

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

(b) At Large 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 At Large Media Pty Ltd.

(c) By submitting material for publication in New Matilda contributors agree to fully indemnify At Large 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.