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Miller-McCune

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Write For Us

Miller-McCune magazine and Miller-McCune.com are published by the Miller-McCune Center for Research, Media and Public Policy, a Santa Barbara-based public benefit foundation. Though different in journalistic approach, both aim to bring concrete options for solving major public problems to a general audience.

Miller-McCune.com, is devoted to three general types of content: breaking news stories about significant social problems; research that may provide ways of dealing with such problems; and commentary on the potential costs, benefits and outcomes of policy proposals. As it grows, the site is expected to serve as an entry point for news of and commentary on the best solutions-oriented research across the country, and around the world.

Miller McCune, a national print magazine, focuses on significant research and researchers, explaining what they can offer in the way of practical options for dealing with pressing social problems, here in the U.S. and around the world. It is a consumer magazine rather than a scholarly journal, striving for the sophisticated analysis and engaging detail characteristic of the fine magazine journalism.

Because of the publications' solutions orientation, stories focus more on options for dealing with public policy problems than on revelations of the problems themselves. Extra points for supporting evidence (especially in the form of original research and quantitative analysis), sophisticated argument and information not already beaten to death in the popular press. Deductions for ideological rhetoric and partisan towel-snapping, because Miller-McCune and miller-mccune.com are not magazines of the left, the right, or the center. They are magazines for people who know we can do better, and want to know how.

But these are lively and authoritative consumer magazines, not academic journals. So writers - researchers, practitioners and journalists alike - receive careful, thoughtful, collegial and stringent editing aimed at making sophisticated ideas and research accessible to an audience of intelligent and concerned non-experts.

 

Miller-McCune magazine

For the Miller-McCune print magazine, writers should email queries to John Mecklin, editor in chief, at: john.mecklin@miller-mccune.com. Feature and news stories will range from 1,000 to 5,000 words. They should focus on options for solving major policy problems, be deeply researched and include the scenes, characters and engaging storylines often grouped under the umbrella named "narrative journalism." The front and back sections of the magazine will also offer shorter "departments," including:

* Small Victories. A one-page feature that looks at one governmental/policy success story in detail, how it overcame bureaucratic and other impediments.
* Wonking Class Hero. A two-page feature that focuses on a policy researcher/practitioner/mandarin doing worthy but heretofore unpublicized work. Can also run in Q&A form.
* The M2 Research Essay. A lengthy essay on a current policy/research issue, discussing multiple notable policy books and serious journal articles, written by a noted scholar or expert who would be encouraged to explain what the issue means to the general public.

 

Miller-McCune.com

Miller-McCune's Web site, Miller-McCune.com, commissions a daily stream of Web-specific stories based on or playing off academic policy research.

The core of what we present are short feature articles of between 750 and 1,100 words that focus on data-driven solutions or suggestsions concerning current social issues. We're not interested in repeated what was in the morning paper, but looking deeper and harder at how real research can offer answers for real problems.

We are also on the hunt for other types of writing:

* Reporting on fresh research presented by the researchers themselves. These are not meant to be abstracts of journal articles but clear statements of what the research focuses on and how its results might influence policy. These pieces generally run from 800 to 1,600 words, and include a link back to any work published elsewhere.
* An essay from a newsmaker addressing a social issue in a provocative manner. These are generally 750 to 1,000 words.
* Quick takes on a headline issue that looks at how existing or soon-to-completed research offers insights or answers on the subject. These pieces run from 300 to 800 words, and will require extremely quick turnaround, sometimes that same day. Shorter or quicker pieces may be sought for blogs on our site.

Some Web stories are written by journalists, and some by academics. Web pitches should be sent to online editor Michael Todd at michael.todd@miller-mccune.com.