There are several ways you can interact with PublicSource journalists. Beyond reaching out to us directly, you can send us story ideas, questions or tips. If the information is sensitive, see the bottom of this page for tips on securely transmitting.

We also work with community members on first-person essays; reach out if you have a personal story you want to share. And, PublicSource also engages with professional freelancers who pitch us ideas; our long pitch form guides you through some of the questions we consider when selecting stories.

First-person essays, plus tips, ideas and questions

If you have a personal story you want to write for us or a tip, question or idea that you think PublicSource reporters should look into, fill out our short form below.

Here are some examples of first-person stories others have written for us.

SHORT PITCH FORM

Freelance stories

If you’re a local freelancer who wants to report a story for us, please use our more in-depth form below to pitch your story to PublicSource. This form will also give you a good idea of what we’re looking for.

We’ll reach out to you if we want to know more, so please leave a good e-mail contact. If you don’t hear back from us within a week, our editors have reviewed your submission and decided the pitch was not for us.

We pay our storytellers; rates vary depending on the story.

LONG PITCH FORM

Leak to us

Part of our mission at PublicSource is to hold those in power accountable. Our community is key in helping us investigate those who breach public trust. If you know of leaders and officials, companies or institutions in the Pittsburgh region abusing power or doing something wrong, we provide guidelines on how to contact us while protecting information you share and your identity. (Remember that no form of communication is 100% safe. Make a plan about how you’ll handle it if someone learns you contacted us.)

LEAK TO US

DON’Ts

  1. Don’t use your work email, computer or nearby post office to contact us.
  2. Don’t contact us through social media.
  3. Don’t talk about what you’re doing with anyone else.
  4. Don’t contact us via a work-issued mobile phone. If you use your personal cell phone, consider installing an encryption app. Signal is most recommended. Try to avoid speaking to us on your home landline.

DOs

  1. If you want to speak to someone at PublicSource, consider using Signal; the phone number to reach us securely is 412-899-1130. Or you can use Proton, a free encrypted email service; the email to reach us is publicsource412@protonmail.com.
  2. Use U.S. mail to send documents. Don’t include a return address; if necessary, put one inside the envelope, not on the outside. Consider mailing it from one town over so the postmark doesn’t show your town. If you plan to communicate with us regularly, consider getting a P.O. box at that site. (Again, do not use a return address.) Our snail-mail address is: PublicSource, 1936 Fifth Ave., Pittsburgh PA 15219.
  3. Send paper documents, or digital media such as CDs and thumb drives. Please include an explanation of what you are sending and why it’s important for the public to see.
  4. To communicate with PublicSource via email, set up a new, anonymous account to be used only for our communications. Don’t give your name or any other identifying information. Use a strong password. Use an open wifi network you don’t use regularly, like a coffee shop or a library, when setting up and using the account. (On a home wifi network, it’s easy to trace your location and identity via your IP address.) Ideally, use the anonymous Tor browser — instead of Chrome, Safari or Firefox.
  5. Consider buying a burner phone. Use cash.

(The above list was originally compiled by InsideClimate News and adapted for PublicSource’s use.)