New voices on Asia 

One of the Asia Media Centre’s goals is to increase the number of voices talking about Asia-relevant issues in the New Zealand media.  We are looking for diverse perspectives from people who love writing and/or photography, and have a passion for or experience with Asia. 

“New Voices” is looking for contributions to Asia Media Centre based around people’s personal and familial experiences in New Zealand. These can be from the perspective as someone from an Asian diaspora, a Māori or Pacific view on an issue about Asia, a story about a lesson learned while travelling the region… AMC is your oyster and we welcome all kinds of pitches. Contributions can be in the form of 800-1000 word articles, photo essays, or (ideally) a combination of both.

AMC pays a competitive market rate for each contribution based on what major media outlets in New Zealand pay their contributors for freelance opinion pieces. All material you provide us will also be available to the Asia New Zealand Foundation website, and to the New Zealand media under our Creative Commons license. This way, we aim to give your voice the largest platform to ensure your story is told to the greatest number of people.

What makes a good opinion piece? It should be a topical issue with broad interest, with your personal insight and experience to humanise the story. It should be “localised” with a uniquely New Zealand perspective that you wouldn’t find in a similar story written overseas. You can pepper in statistics with your anecdotes for extra emphasis, and the best pieces will always be “up-to-the-minute”, which means particularly relevant to this time and place in history. We are not only seeking objective journalistic content but also personal stories.

We know putting yourself “out there” in the media can be scary, so we also provide resources to help contributors.

Need some content examples? You could write a review of a play and bring in your own perspectives, explain the Vietnamese coffee scene to Kiwis, talk about using ride-sharing apps from Asia, issues that hit close to home with your family, or how migrant workers in New Zealand are struggling with visas. Pieces will be published in our Opinion section and shared in our weekly Digest.

The process:

• Send us a pitch via email. This should be just 1-2 paragraphs about your idea and please include “New Voices” in the subject line.
• We’ll get back to you to commission your piece if we are keen to publish it, but will also let you know if it isn’t something that will work for AMC.
• We’ll agree on a fee and a deadline, then you can go ahead with your story. Please don’t send us articles “on spec” (i.e. fully written) as we won’t publish everything, and like to work with you directly to hone your perspective for our audience.
• File your story and photos to us by e-mail by the deadline, provide us with an invoice and your IR330C form so we can meet your tax obligations, and we’ll take it from there.
• If significant editing is involved, we’ll send back a final copy for you to approve. It’s your story, after all. Otherwise, all articles may be edited for clarity and length.

Every contribution is treated as a “one-off” commission, however, we welcome ongoing pitches on an ad-hoc basis after your first piece is published.

If you’d like to talk to us about this opportunity or have any questions, get in touch with us:

Eleanor Wenman: ewenman@asianz.org.nz
Lee Seabrook-Suckling: lseabrook-suckling@asianz.org.nz

We’re keen to hear from you!

– Asia Media Centre