Please send article and blog post proposals, not the full article or blog post, to [email protected].
One of our editors will then contact you regarding your proposal. If we decide to publish your piece we will work with you to develop the idea and provide you with specific instructions regarding details such as deadline and length.
An article in The Majalla’s English edition should ideally provide our readers with a perspective on the Middle East that they could not get from Western publications. We want to present the region as the people who live there understand it, explore new ideas, spark debate, and generally engage our readers with this diverse and complex part of the world.
There are a few key things you should keep in mind as you pitch your idea to us:
- We’re not just a news magazine . . . so read what we publish. We cover a large variety of topics relating to the Middle East—and we’re always looking for new ideas. See the section descriptions below for more information.
- Be innovative. Our readers don’t want to read yet another article saying that the Arab Spring changed the Middle East; nor will they be interested in a piece that begins, “Since the end of the Cold War. . .” Say something different, and say it in an attention-grabbing way.
- Tell a story. Describe people and places, emotions and events. We want our readers to be hooked—not feel like they are being presented with a dull, academic text.
- Substantiate what you say. Support your assertions with statistics, quotes, and other third-party information. (Hyperlinks to online publications are particularly welcome.) Our editors fact-check all articles.
- Keep our audience in mind. Readers of The Majalla are educated, and most follow Middle Eastern affairs closely—but not all are specialists on the region. Target your writing at the informed layperson: not too chatty, but not too “wonkish” either. We have readers around the world, including in the countries we cover, and we want every one of them to find The Majalla interesting and informative.
- We publish in US English. Our team can edit and localize your work into US English if you aren’t comfortable writing in the dialect yourself.
Our Sections:
Features are detailed examinations of current topics.
Politics explores how political power is gained, used, and lost in Middle Eastern countries, focussing on timely examples.
Interviews are conversations with politicians, local leaders, prominent journalists and other figures in the Middle East, published in question-and-answer format. You must have the permission of the interviewee.
Profiles portray the life and achievements of people currently in the news. Tell us what their past says about their beliefs and attitudes in the present. (We are also willing to consider obituaries for high-profile figures.)
Economy shows our readers how economic developments in one area are affecting people locally, nationally, and globally. Even more so than in most of our sections, we prefer that articles appearing in the Economy section explain ideas in very simple, accessible language.
Culture exposes our readers to new painters, poets, filmmakers, and other artists—with commentary on the Middle East that does not take the form of news coverage. We especially welcome reviews of current exhibitions anywhere in the world.
Society portrays the lives of ordinary people in a region where politics, conflict, and natural resources dominate the headlines.
Reviews give critical analyses of recent books, films, and events such as conferences about the Middle East (and potentially other media). Works reviewed need not deal specifically with international affairs. We will consider reviews of works in English, Arabic, or Farsi.
Most of our Blogs cover a specific country or a particular sub-region within the Middle East. Furthermore, we have a blog about US and the Middle East, one about culture, and another commenting on Arab and Western press coverage of the Middle East.