Report for us · Volunteer contributors
Be PANM's reporter where you are.
We want volunteers who go to where the story is, hold a camera or a phone steady, and tell viewers what they are seeing. Apply here, and once you are approved you send us your reports straight from your phone.
What a PANM reporter does
- Goes to the story — events, communities, businesses, sport, culture, in your city or your country.
- Reports on camera — you, in the place, saying what is happening and why it matters.
- Sends the footage and the facts — video, photos and short notes on who, what, where and when. Our newsroom does the writing up.
You do not need to be a writer, and you do not need a big camera. A steady phone, clear sound and accurate facts are enough to start.
What to send
Where you report from, what you would cover, the languages you report in, what you film with, and a link to a clip of you reporting on camera. It can be short and filmed today: stand somewhere that matters to you and tell us what is happening there.
What happens next
An editor watches every clip and may arrange a short video call. If you are approved, you get a reporter account and a page on our team list. Add your photo, and you can download your digital PANM reporter ID and press badge. Your photo is then locked, and any change needs an editor's approval. Your editor sends you stories to cover, and you can send us stories you find yourself. Your name goes on the reports we use, unless you ask us to leave it off. Nothing is published until an editor has reviewed it. We may not be able to reply to every application individually.
A volunteer role
This is an unpaid, volunteer role. Pan African News Media does not currently have funds to pay reporters or cover expenses, and we cannot promise payment in future. You choose which jobs you take, and you can decline any job. In return, you get your name on air and on our site, a reporter profile, a PANM reporter ID and press badge, and an editor's support.
Your ID lasts six months, and we review each contributor's role at that point. After a review we may renew your ID, and in future we may offer some reporters paid work or a permanent staff position. We make no guarantee of either.
Never take money for coverage
Never ask for or accept money or gifts for coverage. Doing so ends your account and cancels your ID immediately. Anyone can check an ID on our website and tell us if a reporter asks them for money.
Your footage
Each time you send a report, you confirm that you filmed it yourself and that the people clearly shown or interviewed agreed to it. You keep the rights to your footage and may use it elsewhere, and you allow Pan African News Media to broadcast, publish, edit and archive it.
Your safety comes first
No story is worth getting hurt for. Do not put yourself at risk to get footage, and do not film where it is forbidden or where people could be endangered. If a story could cause you trouble, tell your editor and ask us to leave your name off.
Before you apply
Everything we broadcast and publish must meet our editorial standards. Only someone with an active reporter account reports for us. Sending an application does not create an agreement between us, and neither an application nor a volunteer role creates employment. If you want to write articles instead, see Write for us.