Write for Us

At the heart of our approach to publishing is a belief that systemic change is needed to address the pressing social, economic and political challenges we face, both as a city and as a society.

We want to use our platforms to amplify marginalised voices excluded from mainstream media, shine a light on abuses of power, and share eye-opening perspectives on our city and its place in the world.

Opus, the company that publishes Now Then, is a social enterprise – so we work for the good of the city.

Contributors

We welcome new writers to Now Then, whether you have experience in journalism or just fancy trying your hand at it.

If you have an idea you want to explore, we'd love to hear from you. We suggest emailing us with some specifics – rather than a general 'I'd like to write for Now Then' email:

• A short introduction to yourself, your areas of interests and any examples of past writing.
• What idea(s) you want to explore through writing for Now Then and why you think they're unique or important for Sheffield.

Keep it short – don't agonise over sending us the 'perfect pitch'.

If your ideas are time-sensitive (e.g. linked to an upcoming event or breaking news), let us know in your message.

We'll do our best to come back to you but please bear in mind that we're a small team.

What we're interested in

• If it's Sheffield-focused, well written and something different, there's a good chance we'll be interested. Take a look at recent stories to get more of a flavour of what we publish. Our articles tend to be news, opinion pieces, reviews or interviews – but we're always open to something 'outside the box'.
  
• We're looking for fresh perspectives and new information. Whether it's on a well-known topic or something that will be familiar to most readers, your article needs to bring something new to the table. Think carefully about who will read it and what you want to say to them, as well as recent coverage of the topic in Now Then and wider media.
• We're always up for exclusives and 'scoops' – but they're not essential.
  

Commissions

We do not currently have money to pay for commissioned articles – except for in the two strands listed below:

Race, Racism & Racialised Communities

We believe the media has a responsibility to talk about the impact of systemic racism and structural inequality in our city and our society. For this purpose, we have created a specific commissioning pot for coverage of issues around race, racism and racialised communities in Sheffield. We can pay local writers with lived experience to cover these vital topics and we particularly encourage pitches related to them.

Give Over

This year and next, we're using Now Then to look at how local media can challenge racist and dehumanising narratives about migration. Through Give Over, we want to spotlight people, groups and stories which recognise the violence inflicted on people in order to maintain borders and nation states – and what it would take for us to think beyond borders. We are open to pitches that relate to border abolition, and abolitionist thinking more widely, particularly as they relate to Sheffield.

Representation

People from privileged backgrounds are more likely to be involved in the media.

We do not believe that being a community venture makes us immune to the effects of systemic racism, prejudice and marginalisation on our coverage and our contributor list.

Therefore we actively encourage contributions from people whose lived experience is not currently represented through Now Then as much as we would like: writers of colour, writers from LGBTQ+ communities, writers of marginalised genders, writers with disabilities and writers from working-class backgrounds.

Regulated by IMPRESS

Now Then is voluntarily regulated by IMPRESS. This means that all our journalism has to stick to the IMPRESS Standards Code, which seeks to balance the rights of the public, journalists and publishers. We also have whistleblowing and complaints policies as recommended by IMPRESS.