28 Publications that Pay for Writing About Politics

Today, for our latest roundup of publishers, we have a list of 28 publications that pay for writing about politics.

We’ve researched payment rates, pitch guidelines, and more, to help you connect with the right editor.

If you want to browse even more opportunities, be sure to check out our database of over 1,500 publishers that pay writers. It’s easily searchable, and includes thousands of listings just like the ones below.

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1. Current Affairs is a bimonthly print magazine of culture and politics. The magazine is “informative, entertaining, and beautiful, and loaded with everything from book reviews to fake advertisements.” According to their writer’s guide, they pay $200 for online articles and $300 for print articles. To learn more, refer to their about us page and their submission guidelines.

2. Dissent is a website and quarterly print magazine that publishes political and cultural criticism. They welcome submissions for both their website and print magazine. They accept pieces on politics, economics, and culture. They don’t accept fiction or poetry submissions. According to one of their calls for writers, they pay $0.50 per word. For details, refer to their submission guidelines.

3. Mother Jones is an investigative news organization. They report on politics, criminal and racial justice, democracy, human rights, education, climate change, food/agriculture, and more. They commission revelatory and dynamic stories that teach people something they didn’t already know. According to their pitch guide, print rates begin at $1.75/word, while their online rates begin at $0.75/word. For more details, read their freelance writer guidelines.

4. The Drift is “a magazine of culture and politics.” They want “socially engaged cultural criticism; class-sensitive analysis; pieces that point out what’s being avoided or talked around in politics, media, arts, or even academia; upbeat cynicism; un-self-serious screeds; generous takedowns; entries from the margins; fiction; poetry; 1-3 sentence book/ movie/ TV/ art reviews.” According to their guidelines, they pay $2,000 for essays, $500 – $1,000 for short stories, $150 for poems, and $25 for Mentions. To learn more, refer to this page.

5. The Real News Network is an independent, nonprofit news network that is focused on providing uncompromising and fact-based journalism. They cover politics, prisons and policing, racial justice, climate crisis, and economy and inequality. According to their pitch guide, they pay $250–$400 for Short News Article / Dispatch; $400–$600 for Standard Reported Story; $600–$1,200 for In-Depth Feature; $1,200–$2,000+ for Investigative Series or Special Assignment; and $200–$350 for Op-Ed / Commentary. To learn more, refer to this page.

6. World Politics Review provides “uncompromising news and analysis on global affairs.” They publish briefings of 1,000 – 1,200 words and feature articles of 2400 words. According to their pitch guide, they pay a standard honorarium of $300 for briefings, and for feature articles, they negotiate the rates individually.

7. Hammer & Hope is “a magazine of Black politics and culture.” Their aim is to “build a project whose politics and aesthetics reflects the electric spirit of the protesters who flooded the streets in 2020, a project that breathes life into the transformative ideas pointing us towards the world we deserve.” They accept pitches from writers at submissions@hammerandhope.org. According to their pitch guide, they pay $1.00/word for commentary, $1.33/word for reported features, and $300/25 lines or less, with $6 each additional line for poems.

8. Informed Comment is a website covering news, politics, and foreign policy, especially about the Middle East, South Asia, and the United States. Topics include religion, human rights, women’s rights, workers’ rights, and religious discrimination, and energy and climate change.  Authors for Informed Comment are typically high-powered professionals with higher degrees and/or extensive publications in national, prominent venues. They seek out topical, original opinion pieces that make a single point and run 800-1000 words. According to their pitch guide, payment is $100 per article. To learn more, read their submission guidelines.

9. Politico Magazine features “ambitious, distinctive journalism about the people, ideas, and institutions that matter most in Washington—and beyond.” They are always seeking smart and timely journalism aimed at people with a deep interest in politics. They accept pitches for long-form feature reporting. They do not list pay rates publicly, but a payment report indicates that they may pay around $0.62 per word. To learn how to pitch them, visit this page.

10. Red Pepper is a website and quarterly print magazine of left politics and culture. They’re always seeking new writers and ideas. Articles for the print magazine are proactively commissioned according to the theme of the issue and written particularly with the magazine in mind. They, however, welcome pitches for their website content. They prioritise payment for articles to emerging and freelance writers, in particular, people on lower incomes and from backgrounds under-represented in the media. According to their pitch guide, they offer up to £65 for online publications. Learn more here.