As the COVID-19 pandemic has expanded across the world, journalism has been one of the fields that has been heavily impacted. Numerous journalists have lost their jobs or had their hours reduced, while freelancers have seen their commissions precipitously drop off. Meanwhile, newsrooms are far less able to send reporters abroad for research and coverage, even at a time when the importance of cross-border reporting is at an all-time high.

With this dynamic in mind, we have launched a new tool, COVID-19 Collaboration Wire. With support from nextMedia.Hamburg and in partnership with the European Journalism Centre, this tool aims to help editors easily commission journalists across borders. Read on to see how both journalists and editors can take advantage of this new feature.

How Editors Can Use COVID-19 Collaboration Wire

To use COVID-19 Collaboration Wire, editors and news publishers do not need to join Hostwriter. (Although, of course, they are very welcome to do so!)

To find journalists to commission, editors can access editors.hostwriter.org and fill out the form on that page. They will need to indicate what kind of reporting or research they are looking for, in what country (if applicable) and how much they will pay for the commissioned work.

After they submit, they will get confirmation that their request was received. Within the next few days, they will receive contact from Hostwriter containing the top pitches for their request and the contact information for the vetted journalists. After Hostwriter’s “match-making” role is complete, the editors and journalists can take it from there.

How Journalists Can Find Commissions from COVID-19 Collaboration Wire

To find calls for pitches submitted through the COVID-19 Collaboration Wire, Hostwriter members need only sign into their Hostwriter.org account and go to our HostWIRE chatroom. There, calls for pitches will be posted with all necessary information about how to apply. After logging in to Hostwriter, click on “Collaboration”, then click on the board “Calls for Pitches”. Posts from the COVID-19 Collaboration Wire will contain #CovidWire in the subject line.

Not a Hostwriter member? It’s easy and free to join our network of 5,000+ journalists in 154 countries and gain access to HostWIRE, our journalism chatroom. Every day, we post new grants and fellowships, job opportunities, calls for pitches and more. In addition, you can use the board to get advice and find co-authors to work with. To register, click here: bitly.com/JoinHostwriter

Both Editors and Journalists can reach out to us with any questions about how to use the COVID-19 Collaboration Wire. Simply write to wire@hostwriter.org.