Deadline extended to 15 June: Call for Pitches

Call for submissions

The call for pitches closes 15th June 2024. Submit your pitch here.

Spheres of Influence Uncovered is a cross-border media project that is seeking to stimulate and broaden public discussion on economic and geopolitical issues in our project countries of Bosnia & Herzegovina, Georgia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. To do this, we are financially and editorially supporting the work of journalists who are interested in writing on related topics.

If you have a story about foreign investment or other forms of impactful economic cooperation - for example, about Russian investment and impacts on the labour market, or EU-China competition to secure critical minerals - let us know! We offer compensation of up to €1000 per author, depending on the complexity of the story, costs, and work involved. 

We are especially interested in data-driven, multi-media, and cross-border stories. By multi-media, we mean that video and podcast formats, or articles that incorporate photos and video are welcome.

For cross-border stories - you can send a pitch in collaboration with a colleague from another country, pitch alone and note that you would like to be connected with a journalist in our network, OR you could get in touch with your idea before the deadline and we can try and connect you beforehand.

The stories must have relevance for the project countries cited above - for example, a cross-border story looking at an issue in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan would fit our criteria, but not a story about Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

General communication is primarily in English, and English is needed for cross-border stories, but please feel free to pitch any of the languages used in project countries for country-specific stories (Georgian, Serbian, Russian, Uzbek, etc.)

Partners for this project and possible publication platforms are Anhor, Balkan Insight and JAM News. We are also open to publication with your home media, and can help pitch your piece to other outlets.

In November 2024, Spheres of Influence Uncovered will be hosting an event in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, showcasing some of the stories published as part of this project. If your story is selected, you may be invited to attend this event, with travel and accommodation provided.

Submit a pitch using this link - Call for pitches closes 15th June 2024.

If you are interested in learning more about the Spheres of Influence Uncovered Project, or would like to discuss story ideas with the aim of finding colleagues to collaborate on pitches, we invite you to join our regular "Cross-Border Brainstorm" session. Please email mardell@n-ost.org for more details.