March 21, 2013

Be Published on PolicyMic

By: Jake Horowitz

Have you ever wanted to publish an op-ed in the New York Times, Huffington Post, or Wall Street Journal?

Becoming the next Tom Friedman or David Brooks is definitely an art form, but there’s also a science involved, and we at PolicyMic have found the secret recipe for success.

Journalism has entered a new phase in the digital age; today, understanding Google search trends, mastering TweetDeck, and becoming a social media expert (Facebook, Tumblr, Storify, etc.) is essential to maximize your views and help your story to go viral.

That’s why we have developed a Political Journalism bootcamp to give you the tools you’ll need to write powerful and persuasive political journalism in the new media environment.

PolicyMic is a rapidly growing platform news & discussion platform for millennials. Think Twitter meets the Economist. I co-founded the site with Chris Altchek, a conservative who previously worked in the Bush White House, as a way to engage our generation in high-quality debate. The concept is simple: Users award one another Mics for thoughtful comments on articles. As you get more Mics from the community, you’re able to write more, unlock new features, and build a following. Once you’ve received enough Mics to level up to a “Pundit,” you can work with our editors and publish an op-ed on our homepage.

If you participate in the bootcamp, we’ll give you the opportunity to work with our editors to publish articles and make your writing technically sound, persuasive, and most of all, engaging to read. By the end of the program, you’ll have a body of polished work to add to your resume, as well as experience with a growing media platform. We’ll teach you hard journalism skills, including: writing a strong lead and thesis to grab your reader’s attention; mastering Google trends and analytics to generate compelling story topics and optimize your headlines for Google search; using social media effectively to promote your article via Facebook and Twitter.

Whether you’re looking to become a professional journalist, you want to work at a think-tank, or you’re ready to advance in the world of public policy, learning to write concisely and effectively is an essential skill. Indeed, because of the exposure they have received on PolicyMic with our over readers, some of our contributors have made quite the splash. We’ve got over 6 million unique readers per month.

We’re looking for more free-market thinkers to participate in our bootcamp, and believe this is an invaluable professional development opportunity. If you are interested, I highly encourage you to apply (Email me at jhorowitz (at) policymic.com). Looking forward to meeting all of you!

Jake Horowitz is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of PolicyMic. Follow him on twitter.