Write for us. Join our community.

Love what you read on Greater Greater Washington? We want to add YOUR byline to our site!

Our articles are written by a diverse community of staff journalists, correspondents, and volunteers, and we’re always looking to bring in new volunteer contributors. We welcome pitches from volunteers with a desire to write about the urban places around them; a commitment to transparency, accuracy, and fairness; and a willingness to collaborate with us on the journey from idea to draft to a published post.

What kinds of posts are we looking for?

The Greater Greater Washington publication informs people about urbanism: geographic, economic, political, and social forces affecting the built environment. We publish content from volunteer writers about how varied policy issues interact with topics such as transit, housing, bicycling, infrastructure, public spaces, and more.

We also welcome posts on public policy issues such as education, social justice, and health, but articles on these topics must have an urbanist link or lens. (For more in-depth guidelines about our parameters for posts, check out our urbanism content philosophy.)

We’re looking for people to write about these topics and others! When evaluating a potential post, here are some questions to ask yourself:

  • Why does this issue matter to people all over the region? If an issue happening in your neighborhood is an example of a wider trend, point that out so readers around the region will understand why it matters to their lives.
  • How does this issue influence, or how is it influenced by, our region’s built environment or the choices people make about where to live? In other words, what makes it urbanist?
  • What is the big-picture principle at work here? What’s the main knowledge you want readers to gain by reading?

We are unfortunately not able to offer compensation for articles outside of those by writers specifically part of our paid correspondent programs.

What’s the best way to write about these topics?

The subjects of our posts represent a range of urbanism-related topics, but the goal of all of them is to help readers learn something new. We want to be sure all Greater Greater Washington posts have:

  • A conversational tone. The subjects we cover often have a technical side, and for people who know their stuff, it’s easy to get wonky. But since we’re writing for people who are non-experts but curious to learn, we write about things in plain terms.
  • A headline and a clear, direct introduction that give readers the most crucial information — your main idea, and enough context to understand it. If someone only reads those two things, they should still come away with new information they could share with someone else.
  • Enough background information to give readers the details they need to understand the subject at hand, as well as new information.

What we don’t want

There are a few types of pitches we often get that don’t work for us. Here are some tips to avoid these pitfalls:

  • We strive to apply rigorous journalistic principles to everything we publish, and thus avoid speculating — instead, we ground our articles in real-world evidence.
  • We don’t do profiles, celebrity features, or travel pieces unless the content is specifically related to urbanism.
  • Avoid pitching generalized, non-specific criticism of officials, government entities, or other institutions; instead, ground criticism in evidence-based argument.

Types of posts

Below are some of the types of posts we publish from volunteer contributors on ggwash.org and our criteria.

News and analysis: A factual, reported article written without a specific policy agenda, by someone who does not have a personal or professional stake in the topic.*

  • Should never be authored by elected or appointed officials
  • Articles should be based on facts and, while not engaging in both-sidesism, should consider opposing viewpoints fairly
  • Conflict of interest standards for news pieces are strict: if a writer has a personal or professional stake* in the topic, the article should be labeled opinion.

Opinion: An article written with the intent to persuade.

  • Like news articles, opinion should also be based on facts
  • Unlike news articles, opinion writers can have a stake in the topic they are writing about, but that interest should be disclosed (for instance, if the author owns one of ten homes affected by a proposed zoning change, an article about that zoning change should be explicit about that fact)
  • Op-eds are under the umbrella of journalism and have a time honored connection with newsrooms.

*What is a personal or professional stake? We like to think of this as having skin in the game: if an issue affects you, your employer or your loved ones specifically, you have a stake in it.

  • This includes: stories that specifically impact your job, family, home, or institutions to which you belong; and issues around which you advocate, either for your job or in your spare time.
  • This does NOT include: stories that impact you because you live in the region or in a general area, or because you belong to a particular identity group.
  • Some examples for illustrative purposes:
    • Someone who lives in a condominium can write about condo associations, but shouldn’t write a news/analysis article about their own condo association.
    • Someone who spends time advocating for slower speed limits in their neighborhood shouldn’t write a news/analysis article about a policy change around those speed limits.
    • Someone whose organization has conducted a survey shouldn’t write a news/analysis article about that survey.

Journalistic ethics

Like everyone who publishes on our site, volunteers are expected to follow the GGWash publication’s ethical guidelines.

We strive to adhere to the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics. Some general principles to follow:

  • Always strive to be accurate, honest, and fair
  • Avoid conflicts of interest and disclose those that are unavoidable
  • Prioritize transparency, particularly around who is writing the article and why (avoid ghostwriting)
  • Treat subjects as human beings worthy of respect
  • Avoid stereotyping as well as racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, and other forms of hate and bias

Some ethical standards are specific to the types of content we publish:

News and analysis:

  • Articles should consider multiple viewpoints fairly, while not engaging in both-sidesism for the sake of it
  • News and analysis should NOT be written by:
    • People who engage politically (for instance, organize, advocate, or campaign) around the topic at hand
    • Someone who is running for or holds public office
    • Someone whose close friends or family are involved in the story
  • Any potential conflicts of interests should be disclosed during the pitching process

Opinion:

  • The author’s interest in the topic at hand and any relevant affiliations should always be disclosed, both to the editor and to the public
  • Opinion should be based on facts and represent the truth

Take the next step; write a pitch!

Please submit your pitch using our pitch form.

If you’ve read all of this and want to know even more, you can also check out this overview of our editorial standards.

The legal stuff

We edit all articles to meet our standards for length, style, and clarity, and it can sometimes take a few days or more to review submissions. We’ll always give you a chance to review any changes to your post before it goes live, but by submitting, you agree to let us edit and publish it at a convenient time based on our editing and publishing schedule.

If you submit an article or letter, unless we have a prior agreement to the contrary, you agree to grant Greater Greater Washington a perpetual, transferable, worldwide, royalty-free license to reproduce, distribute, publish, display, edit, modify, create derivative works from, and otherwise use your submission in any form and on any media.

GGWash is supported by our recurring donors, corporate supporters, and foundations.

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