Revolutions, a blog about numbers and analytics, was on hand to hear ESPN’s Nate Silver at the recent Joint Statistical Meeting in Montreal. He’s got some 11 tips and principles for journalists when it comes to dealing with numbers, specifically statistics.

Here’s a few.

• Our favorite, correlation is not causation. You can’t always connect the dots, as much as you might want to. For example, just because incidences of violence go up when it’s hot, doesn’t mean climate change causes violence, CBS News.
• The average is still the most useful of all stats. “Because they are looking for interesting stories, journalists often focus on the outliers.” While interesting, outliers don’t illuminate much that you can apply to the world.
• Make predictions. “If journalists would put their money and their reputations where their mouths are they might get closer to achieving scientific objectivity.”

If you didn’t know, Twitter has changed everything.

It’s given us more insight into journalists’ and newsmakers’ personalities—the quirks, the foibles, the preternatural ability to crack wonky and bad jokes—all in under 140 characters. Even Jake Tapper can’t hide behind CNN PR (who’ve requested we contact them for “all things Jake”) when he’s on Twitter. For example, thanks to his Tweets we know he’s got a thing for puppies and at least tangentially follows Doctor Who.

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By focusing on gender issues and the media, Bitch acts as a tool-kit for all those who engage in social justice and feminist criticism (no, feminist is not another word for lesbian), and editors are looking for writers who can provide smart, thought-provoking commentary on pop culture.

With few staff writers to fill in the gaps, freelancers have more opportunities to land a byline. “We rely on freelancers to pitch us,” stressed editor-in-chief Kjerstin Johnson. “If we generate an idea in house, we may send a query to a group of established freelancers,” but she emphasizes that the Bitch team is hungry for solid stories with new angles.

For more details and editors’ contact info, read How To Pitch: Bitch.

– Sherry Yuan

The full version of this article is exclusively available to Mediabistro AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, register now for as little as $55 a year for access to hundreds of articles like this one, discounts on Mediabistro seminars and workshops, and all sorts of other bonuses.

At Afar, editors are looking for culture-savvy freelancers to cover destinations abroad and in the U.S. with an in-depth perspective. Translation: no five-star hotels or resorts, please.

In a survey, almost 90 percent of Afar readers said they “visit places most travelers don’t see” and 74 percent agree that they “stay in one place longer to experience its culture,” even participating in local events. This isn’t the Hawaiian-shirt-and-fanny-pack wearing group.

With that in mind, freelancers are welcome to pitch creative ideas that help these globetrotters learn even more about their next destinations. For pitching etiquette and editors’ contact info, read How To Pitch: Afar.

– Sherry Yuan

The full version of this article is exclusively available to Mediabistro AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, register now for as little as $55 a year for access to hundreds of articles like this one, discounts on Mediabistro seminars and workshops, and all sorts of other bonuses.

For writers who want to avoid all the front-of-the-book dating, and jump straight to the matrimony of a feature story assignment, it will take more than a killer lede or a glowing portfolio to get an editor to say yes. In Mediabistro’s latest feature for AvantGuild members, veteran freelancers share their best advice for landing that first piece in the “well” of a magazine.

“Persistence can be just as important as having great ideas,” noted Oregon-based writer Teri Cettina, whose work has appeared in Parenting. Before writing for many national magazines, she says she focused on a few pubs and pitched them “like it was my job” before breaking into the industry.

For more tips on how to package your pitch and impress editors, read How to Get Your Feature Pitch Accepted.

– Sherry Yuan

The full version of this article is exclusively available to Mediabistro AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, register now for as little as $55 a year for access to hundreds of articles like this one, discounts on Mediabistro seminars and workshops, and all sorts of other bonuses.

Journos covering anything related to parenthood can land a byline at The Bump, one-third of XO Group’s life stage publications (The Knot, The Nest). The pub, named a top women’s website by Forbes, is all about helping the blushing brides and grooms from The Knot prepare for the joyous roller coaster ride of pregnancy and babyhood.

“Our readers are very smart and they don’t want to be talked down to, so we may address similar topics as other magazines but our voice is very unique. It’s conversational, sometimes humorous, sometimes a little snarky or with a little attitude,” explained Elena Mauer, deputy editor of the site. “We don’t believe in TMI but we don’t sugarcoat things.”

With that in mind, freelancers are welcome to think creatively about all of the info new moms (and dads) need as they embark on parenthood. For pitching etiquette and editors’ contact info, read How To Pitch: The Bump.

– Sherry Yuan

The full version of this article is exclusively available to Mediabistro AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, register now for as little as $55 a year for access to hundreds of articles like this one, discounts on Mediabistro seminars and workshops, and all sorts of other bonuses.

At more than 125 years old, Good Housekeeping is one of those titles people recognize just because, even if they’ve never read an issue. At the top of 2013, the mag underwent an extreme makeover, complete with an updated logo and content revamp.

“We did a lot of research, and we wanted to make sure we were keeping pace with our readers’ lives. We wanted to give them more fun in the magazine,” explained executive editor Janet Soroto. “People are so stressed out now that they don’t want anyone telling them what they need to do.”

To achieve that, editors create an intentional mix of recipes, health stories, first-person narratives, articles, beauty advice, and weight loss and nutrition tips, much of it ripe for freelance pitching. For writers’ guidelines and editors’ info, read How to Pitch: Good Housekeeping.

– Sherry Yuan

The full version of this article is exclusively available to Mediabistro AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, register now for as little as $55 a year for access to hundreds of articles like this one, discounts on Mediabistro seminars and workshops, and all sorts of other bonuses.

Creating a winning magazine article idea and then articulating it into a knockout query letter is challenging enough for most writers, but all that hard work can be pointless if the pitch never reaches the right editor.

Let’s look at a few common obstacles, shall we? The editor who once covered the column you’re interested in has moved to a rival publication, but his name is still listed on his former pub’s masthead. No. 2: You’ve found the right editor and know for a fact she still works at the pub, but her email address keeps bouncing back. Or, you call the magazine simply to ask who handles a section, but no one ever… answers… the… phone. Arggh! Why is it so hard to find an editor’s contact information in the first place?

For tried and true tips from successful writers, read 7 Ways to Track Down a Magazine Editor.

– Sherry Yuan

The full version of this article is exclusively available to Mediabistro AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, register now for as little as $55 a year for access to hundreds of articles like this one, discounts on Mediabistro seminars and workshops, and all sorts of other bonuses.

We’re thinking coffee table book.

Ever since New York mayoral hopeful Anthony Weiner even broached res-erecting his political career, every time he comes up in the media, it’s always with a small element of news followed by a dick joke and a laugh. It’s almost like it’s considered sacrilege for a publication to not somehow allude to his penis.

In a recent appearance on MSNBC, one editor remarked on Weiner being “in the flesh” and couldn’t help but crack up. There was nothing funny, really. But Weiner. In the flesh. His penis. One thing leads to another.

Today’s Weiner penis gallery comes from Weiner himself and then subsequently Newsbusters, who couldn’t help bringing up the inevitable images conjured by Weiner saying he was “leaning forward.” Leaning forward. Leaning over. It’s all the same thing. Newsbusters, of course, pricked (sorry, this is involuntary at this point) him for using the lefty MSNBC feature title, but the contributing writer, Mark Finkelstein, also gets on him for conjuring up — what else? — a sex act involving Weiner’s weiner.

His lede works quite well: “MSNBC and Anthony Weiner: made for each other like a frank and a bun?” And he concludes by writing, “If you were Weiner’s campaign consultant, might you advise him to avoid the expression—and the disturbing imagery it could bring to the mind of voters?”

True enough, Weiner leaning anywhere is an easy leap to his beef whistle.

And the media circus continues…

A story on the battle to liberalize Ireland’s abortion laws published in USA Today Thursday contained edits that grossly altered the original story, according to freelance journalist Caelainn Hogan, who wrote the piece.

Or rather, that was according to Hogan before she changed her mind about complaining about those edits.

Hogan, 24, told FishbowlDC that USA Today‘s version of her story, which was purchased through the freelance writer service Associated Reporters Abroad, added “material I had never seen before” and included “paraphrasing of my own words and manipulation of quotes which I feel distort the original.” Hogan is an Ireland native but is currently in Turkey.

The original version of Hogan’s story, which she forwarded to FBDC, is different from the USA Today version, but mostly by way of inconsequential edits. For example, the original story contained the following quote:

“The issue of abortion in Ireland s [sic] so contentious many are reluctant to discuss it,” said Clare Quigley, 23, a medical student in Dublin.

It was amended to read:

“The issue of abortion in Ireland is so contentious,” said Clare Quigley, 23, a medical student in Dublin.

Not exactly a nefarious edit.

Edits to the story include added quotes… Read more