New issue of Contributoria.com: Writers tackle weighty news issues

The need for toilets in India (and elsewhere), the challenges for gay men in Africa and the ‘wonder cure’ for world hunger, Soylent. All topics explored in-depth at the June issue of Contributora which is out today.

Given the three month publishing cycle which exists at contributoria.com, the topics writers choose to cover tend to be less about the daily news agenda and much more about global issues and wider concerns.

But this month’s new issue, published online today, has bucked that trend, with many of the articles chiming closely with current news concerns.

For those unfamiliar with the crowdfunded journalism platform I work on, Contributoria.com, the process from journalists proposing a story idea, through to seeking support, and then to publication takes three months and so the stories online today were actually pitched by the writers back in April.

Maybe it’s because there’s been such a focus within the mainstream media on international news in the past few weeks, or perhaps it’s that this month’s theme of the ‘world we want’ tapped into some universal concerns? Whatever the reason, it’s been good to see the articles in the current issue provide some additional insight and focus onto subjects being discussed elsewhere.

Here’s just some of those which resonated with me:

Toilets save lives
As we recoil in horror at the terrible story of the teenage girls gang-raped and hanged in India for want of a toilet , Emma Jayne looks at one of the issues which can mean life and death for women and girls in many parts of the world – access to toilets.

Male rape: The forgotten human rights taboo
With mounting outrage at the very idea that Uganda’s ‘anti-gay’ minister Sam Kuesa could be appointed at the UN, Rich McEachran looks at the reality of being gay and a survivor of child rape in South Africa.

Food hacking and the future of hunger
Karl Hodge decided to look again at Soylent – the ‘nutritionally balanced, total meal replacement in liquid form’ that could hold some hope of a solution for the 842 million people in the world who are classed as “hungry”. These people are undernourished, eating fewer calories a day than the basic physiological minimum required to survive. 98% of these live in developing countries. And if that’s got you wondering what that might taste like, then a couple of days ago The New York Time gave it a taste test.

The full issue for this month’s Contributoria.com can be viewed here. Proposals from writers for the next cycle of publication are now open. If you’ve a story that needs to be told, submit it to the community for consideration here.