Publication: The Contrapuntal
Topic(s): Surveillance, politics, technology, data systems, borders, universities, healthcare, algorithmic governance
Rate: ~$600 to $1,200 per article (depending on format and scope)
Deadline: April 15
Name of Editor: Not specified
Submit Via: Email — submissions.thecontrapuntal@protonmail.com

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Writers interested in investigative journalism, surveillance technology, politics, and data systems have an opportunity to pitch The Contrapuntal, an open-access publication commissioning rigorous reporting and analysis on the expanding surveillance landscape.

The publication is currently seeking pitches that explore how surveillance operates across institutions and societies — from biometric border systems and predictive policing to digital monitoring in universities and healthcare systems. Contributors are encouraged to examine how technologies of monitoring shape political power, social control, and resistance movements.

The project is especially interested in work that moves beyond traditional “state surveillance” narratives to explore the wider ecosystem of surveillance, including private contractors, data platforms, and algorithmic systems that increasingly influence decision-making in everyday life.

Writers may also investigate how communities push back against these systems through counter-surveillance, legal challenges, opacity strategies, and grassroots resistance.

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What They’re Looking For

The Contrapuntal welcomes pitches that engage with themes such as:

• University Surveillance: Monitoring of campus protests, behavioral analytics, and data-sharing between universities, police, and private security.
• Healthcare Surveillance: How medical records, diagnostic categories, and eligibility systems become tools of governance and social control.
• Border & Migration Surveillance: Drone patrols, biometric checkpoints, and databases shaping Europe’s migration infrastructure.
• Cartographic & Urban Surveillance: Mapping systems, predictive policing algorithms, CCTV networks, and “smart city” technologies.
• The New Panopticon: Algorithmic decision-making, social media data extraction, and automated welfare systems.
• Morality & Transparency: The politics of visibility, the right to privacy, and emerging debates around the “right to opacity.”

The publication encourages cross-disciplinary work that combines investigative reporting, cultural analysis, academic research, or multimedia storytelling.

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Who Can Pitch

The Contrapuntal welcomes submissions from:

• Investigative and long-form journalists
• Academics and researchers able to write for general audiences
• Artists and multimedia storytellers (photography, illustration, documentary, comics, data visualization)

Institutional affiliation is not required.

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Commission Categories & Rates

Deep-Dive Investigative Features

• ~5,000 words
• ~€1,000 (~$1,080)

Visual Essays

• Photo/video or multimedia storytelling
• ~€1,000 commission

Illustrated Graphic Essays

• Documentary comics or visual essays
• ~€1,000 commission

Analytical Op-Eds

• 2,500–3,000 words
• ~€500 (~$540)

Artistic Features

• Artist profile or project reflection
• ~€200 (~$215)

All submissions must be original and previously unpublished.

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How to Pitch

Writers should submit a single document (around 500 words) outlining:

• The proposed story angle and argument
• Why they are well positioned to report the story
• Why the topic is timely or urgent
• The intended format and length
• A short bio (maximum 120 words) with links to past work