Pitches

MIT Technology Review welcomes pitches from freelance writers across a broad range of topics. We encourage writers of all skill levels, and from all backgrounds, to pitch us. We are especially interested in hearing from writers with backgrounds that are traditionally under-represented in technology and science journalism, and from outside the United States.

This guide will give you a brief overview of the kinds of stories we run, what we’re looking for in a pitch, and who to contact when you have an idea.

Most of the stories that MIT Technology Review commissions come from pitches, but we do reach out to writers with assignments. We also issue a bi-monthly call for pitches for the print magazine. If you’d like to be considered for assignments and be informed of calls for pitches, you can fill out this form to be added to our database of freelance journalists.

What is an MIT Technology Review story?

MIT Technology Review publishes a wide range of stories, from breaking news to long-term investigations. We want stories about technology itself, but we’re particularly excited about those areas where technology and humans collide—where technology meets the real world. Our stories should feel like must-reads for people who want to stay up to date with how technology is changing our world.

In general, we commission news stories (generally 800-1,000 words), analysis pieces (800-1,000 words), and features (2,500-4,000 words) from freelancers for the website. The print magazine offers other potential formats for stories in addition to news and features, including infographics and data spreads, essays, short profiles, and book reviews. If you are an expert interested in writing an op-ed for the magazine, you can find more information on the op-ed pitching and writing process here.

What makes a good MIT Technology Review pitch?

A pitch does not need to be long, but it should contain enough information to give the commissioning editor a good sense of what the end product would look like. A good pitch will tell us why our readers should care about your idea and why they should be reading about it now. It should also show how you (the writer) will make the story an enjoyable read.

In general, there has to be a sense of urgency and a clear top line. Pitching to write about a topic isn’t enough: What is the story you’re going to tell us? What kind of take-away should readers have? One way to do this is to think about what the headline might be. You can look at our site to get a sense of how we write our headlines (for example, we generally avoid formulating headlines as questions).

Please check to see if we have published similar stories recently. If it is an idea that hasn’t been covered by us but has been covered well by other outlets, explain how your story would stand apart.

And if you have not written for MIT Technology Review before, be sure to introduce yourself and include links to a few relevant clips if you have them.