Frequently asked questions

To receive weekly article pitches from Section Editors, visit our Write for Us page. Articles are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, although the most delicate or difficult articles will be given to the most experienced writers. Once you’ve claimed a topic, the editor will coach you by suggesting angles to take, edits to make, people to talk to, and themes to explore—depending on the needs of the article. Articles are submitted to Section Editors on Thursday, undergo several rounds of editing, then found on newsstands across UTM on Monday.

News deals with campus events, politics, and policy. Opinion is reserved for editorials, Letters to the Editor, satire, and op-eds. Features deals with research and student life. Arts & Entertainment deals with music, theatre, film, visual art, and other creative media. Sports & Health deals with sports teams, facilities, and wellbeing. You can also join our Photos section to contribute photographs to our weekly issues.

By no means! It makes no difference to us what program you’re in, whether you’ve received a Pulitzer Prize, or if you’re a veteran in journalism. We welcome you even if you’ve only received C- essays your whole life. The Medium is a place where anyone can grow as a writer, editor, and creator. In fact, we encourage as many diverse voices, experiences, and perspectives to contribute. You just have to be a U of T (preferably UTM) student or recent graduate to write for us.

The publishing process on a week-to-week basis can be summarized as such:

Monday to Thursday: Once pitches are assigned through our mailing lists, volunteer writers get to work. On Thursday night, after some back-and-forth feedback, writers submit their final article to Section Editors. Meanwhile, the Photos Editor and photographers curate pictures that accompany articles; the Videographer directs and produces video content; and the Masthead records and mixes our podcast. Throughout the week, our team monitors breaking news, and engages with the community through Letters to the Editor, advice column submissions, and social media.

Thursday to Saturday: Section Editors, Copy Editors, the Managing Editor, and the Editor-in-Chief edit the articles for structure, grammar, formatting, correctness, and clarity. The goal is to create a final product that meets The Medium’s publishing standards.

Sunday: After multiple rounds of editing, articles are sent to the Design Editor who lays out our print issues combining written articles with visual elements. That same day, Section Editors gather for a pitch meeting to discuss articles for upcoming issues, then pitches are sent out to writers to be claimed. At night, our publisher receives the newspaper layout so that print issues are fresh off the press for Monday morning.

Not only can you join our team at anytime during the publishing year, but there’s no pressure to write a certain amount. You can write one article in total, or one article per week! But there are benefits to writing more. If you write six articles in a semester, you become a Staff Writer. That’s a title you can put on your resume.

The more you get involved, the more likely you will be selected as an Associate Section Editor. As an Associate Editor, you’ll get to contribute regularly, have first pick on pitches, and work closely with your Section Editor. Associates are selected early in the publishing year. The position comes with an author page where we put up your biography, photo, and article portfolio. You’ll probably even be invited to lunch with the team! You never know. (Most often, Associate Section Editors form the pool from which Section Editors are nominated at the end of the year. Section Editors are paid positions).

At The Medium, you can either be hired or elected as an editor. Elections take place in March, and hiring takes place the summer before the new publishing year. Each election is overseen by a temporarily contracted Chief Returning Officer. Job postings are shared on our social media pages and emailed to the UTM community. We’ve described below the various paid editor positions available. Please note that Associate Editors are volunteers and are appointed by Section Editors during the publishing year.

Elected Editor Positions

  • The Editor-in-Chief is in charge of the paper. Their many duties include hiring the non-elected paid staff, managing the team, consulting about content and design, finalizing print and magazine layouts, meeting with the board, copy-editing, and ensuring the smooth running of the publication.
  • Five Section Editors: News, Opinion, Features, Arts & Entertainment, and Sports & Health. Section Editors plan the content of their sections each week, appoint Associate Editors, coordinate a body of writers, assign articles, edit the articles, and lay out their sections for publishing.
  • Photos Editor plans and takes photos to accompany articles, and manages a team of volunteer photographers.

Hired Editor Positions

Hiring for The Medium‘s 2023/2024 publishing year is now open. Please check out the available positions here!

  • The Managing Editor is co-pilot to the Editor-in-Chief. They are responsible for administrative duties, supervising editorial staff, copy-editing, overseeing multimedia content, as well as assisting the Editor-in-Chief in day-to-day operations.
  • The Design Editor illustrates and typesets the print issues every Sunday. They also put together our annual Medium Magazine.
  • The Copy Editor(s) edit every article with a fine-tooth comb to correct grammar, adjust formatting, improve clarity, and enhance concision.
  • The Social Media & Online Editor uploads our latest articles to our website every Monday and spearheads our social media presence.
  • The Videographer is responsible for planning, filming, and editing all video content.

When running for the Editorial Board, ideally you’ve written or worked for us. Technically, all positions except Editor-in-Chief are open to people with experience and qualification from outside, but it helps to know the organization. Note that only current UTM students or alumni of up to one year can run.

You may not run for a position if you’re an executive or board member of another club or student society. Shucks, right?

Instead of boring you with a long-winded list of writing tips, here’s our bible (a.k.a. The Medium’s Writer’s Handbook & Style Guide) that was gracefully created by former Editor-in-Chief Ali Taha.

Another great tool, and a great addition to any journalist’s book shelf, is the Canadian Press Stylebook.

You can sign up as a volunteer photographer through our Write for Us form and help curate photos to accompany each article. We are also looking for cartoonists, satirists, poets, artists, correspondents, and multimedia creators. Shoot us an email if you consider yourself one of the prior and we’d love to get to know you and your work!

Once a year, The Medium also elects a Board of Directors which comprises the Editor-in-Chief, a non-voting delegate of the university, a non-voting ex-officio member, and five elected undergraduate students. The Board oversees the company finances and adherence to the constitution. They meet to be updated on the company’s situation and to ratify any top-level decisions or amendments. These are volunteer positions.

We aim to elevate and give voice to the U of T and UTM communities. On that note, we will not be accepting guest posts from unaffiliated parties. However, if you have an idea, project, or story that you think will benefit our community, please feel free to contact us or pitch it to us.

We do, but not often. We only run ads that are prevalent to our community. For any ad inquiries, contact social@themedium.ca. Here is our Media Kit.