Editorial Guidelines
Editorial Mission Statement
World Pulse is founded on the belief that there is a world of untapped knowledge, innovation, and vision held by the women and children of the earth. This massive wellspring of positive solutions is essential for solving today's cyclical global problems and has been ignored for too long by mainstream media, world governments, civil society, and community planners.
We believe that now is the time to broadcast and celebrate the unique worldview and spirit of women and youth globally, to ask "what is working for our children?", and to inspire everyone to participate in the transformation towards a child-honoring world.
World Pulse magazine accepts submissions from anyone who supports our mission.
Guidelines for Writers
News and Feature Stories
We publish timely articles on urgent international topics facing humanity. Copy should be thoughtful and provocative, provide thorough coverage of the topic, and inspire readers by highlighting forces that are working for solutions. We favor stories that emphasize creativity, courage, innovation, restoration, efficiency, transition, transformation, and collaboration. We also heavily favor queries from journalists and writers who are from the regions they are reporting on.
We are far more likely to publish a piece that illustrates a relationship to the larger landscape of global social-change. For example, we are less likely to publish a story on one orphanage of hope for trafficked children in Cambodia than we are a story that also discusses a rapidly building network of care centers for children throughout Cambodia, or a global phenomenon of "polyclinics" of hope for trafficked children.
Each article MUST include or consider the following:
- The perspectives of women and/or children.
- Personal voices and views of those involved in all sides of the story.
- Is this working for children? Why or why not?
- A clear, engaging description of the issue or struggle at hand.
- Identification of organizations, leaders, movements, policies and projects that are effectively improving conditions in society.
- An illustration of the challenges and breakthroughs for those working to solve the problem.
- Identification of similar struggles and/or movements internationally.
- A connection of the personal and local to international patterns and emerging global movements.
Our readers come from a wide variety of backgrounds, from high school students to world leaders; please write accordingly.
Our lead-time is three months and submissions should not be so time-bound that they will be dated by publication.
As a news source, it is essential that all components of each article be absolutely accurate. We expect that the writer has thoroughly double-checked and verified the accuracy of all information in an article before submission. Sources must be submitted with each article.
How to Query
News and Feature Stories
Send us an email proposing your story idea. Construct the headline and initial paragraph of your query as you envision it in print.
Our editorial staff carefully reviews all queries and they MUST be submitted in the following format to be considered:
Working Headline
Subheading
Introductory lead paragraph illustrating your angle, tone, and your writing style. This paragraph should answer the following questions: Why is this story important now? Why is it inspiring and exciting?
Informational paragraph discussing the scope of your article, the sources you will talk to and the questions you will explore. Where will our readers be taken? What will they learn and how will they feel?
"Why you?" paragraph telling us why you are qualified to write on this topic. Why are you passionate about this topic? What do you hope to achieve with the publishing of this story?
- Indicate to us if you have photos, or if you have relationships with potential photographers
- Understand that you will be required to submit full documentation of your sources to assist in fact checking (We will work with you if there is concern of security risks for yourself or your sources).
- If you are not from the country you are writing about, have you considered that the story must have ample voices and perspectives directly from the mouths of women and youth of the region?
- If we have, or another publication has, run a similar story in the last two years, explain how your story will differ beyond being tailored to World Pulse’s editorial style.
All Queries and Submissions
Please include biographical information and publication history with your submission. If you have not been published in World Pulse before, please send at least two, but no more than four, previously published works with your query. World Pulse assumes no responsibility for unsolicited queries, manuscripts, or other types of submissions. Although we will try to respond within three months to all submissions that include a self-addressed, stamped envelope, we cannot guarantee a response to any submission. With the exception of photography (which must be accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope), please do not send anything unsolicited that must be returned to you.
Please DO NOT query by phone or by fax.
We DO accept email queries.
Please send queries to:
Departments Accepting Queries
News (200 – 500 words)
Coverage of important global developments, innovative working models with potential for broad impact, and preventable situations of grave humanitarian concern.
Feature (1,500 – 2,500 words)
In-depth exploration of an international topic or global movement through the eyes of women and/or youth.
Fresh Visions (1,000 – 1,200 words)
Innovative and visionary proposals for social change that are rooted in today's realities and contain pragmatic road maps for implementation.
Youth Guru (800 – 1,000 words)
An in-depth interview with, or an essay from, a visionary child.
Frontline Journal (500 – 800 words)
A personal narrative, written in a journal format, of life behind the newspaper headlines.
For my Homeland (600 – 1200 words)
Literary essays (may be excerpted from a larger work) that convey the emotions, memories, or connotations related to the struggles, strengths, and beauty of a particular place.
Traveling Lightly (600 – 1,000 words)
A humorous cross-cultural traveler's tale.
Global Gatherings (300 – 600 words)
An overview report from a momentous global women's or youth gathering.
Photo Essay (two pages)
A story told through visually engaging imagery.
Informational & Artistic Maps
We love maps! We are interested in conveying information and emotions using maps as an artistic medium. Please send us your creative and informational maps. Maps may show us where children are most valued, where new community economic systems are in effect, or a refugee's remembering of her homeland.
Adbusters
We are interested in humorous mock-advertisements that provide social commentary on current global media coverage and the impact of the lack of women and children's perspectives.
Submissions from youth
We welcome art, poetry, photography and expressions from youth around the world on any world issue that is important to them, such as war, environment, AIDS, food, health, etc. We encourage the telling of their lives, realities, visions, dreams, and solutions in their own voices.
Guidelines for Photographers
World Pulse is a strongly visual magazine. We print color and black-and-white photography. All photographs should relate to the Editorial Mission. We favor images that are rich in detail, balanced in contrast, artistic, and honest. Highly personal, experiential, and emotionally provocative images are our preference. We are very interested in the photo-essay form, and encourage photographers and photojournalists to query us with ideas, or to submit images for thematic photo-essays. Please submit:
- Electronic TIFF or JPG images of at least 300 dpi
Copy Deadlines
To Be Announced
Oracle: Transforming communication
Abundance: Transforming economy
Earth: Transforming energy
Faith: Transforming religion
Psyche Transforming human consciousness
Partnership Transforming relationships
Revelation Children transforming us
Emotion Transforming global power
Compensation
We provide all artists, photographers and writers whose original work is published in World Pulse with a one-year subscription to the magazine and one additional copy of the issue in which they appear. Our ability to provide an additional honorarium will vary over time and will be discussed with each contributor on an individual basis.
Resources
We encourage our writers to use sources that are historically underrepresented in the news, including people of color, GLBT, people with disabilities, and children. In addition, we urge our writers to take advantage of new economic and development data-measures that incorporate the value of gender equality, healthy ecosystems, and the unpaid work of women.
Some resources include:
SheSource
The online resource for journalists that is dedicated to closing the gender gap in media.
The Rainbow Sourcebook and Diversity Toolkit
An online database of qualified experts on key news topics from historically-underrepresented populations in the news.
