Filter launched in September 2018 and is based in New York City. Our mission is to advocate through journalism for rational and compassionate approaches to drug use, drug policy and human rights. We cover these and many other, related areas.
Filter was co-founded by Will Godfrey and Sarah Beller. It is owned and operated by The Influence Foundation, a nonprofit organization. You can follow Filter on Facebook and Twitter, or sign up for our newsletter here.
Editorial team
Will Godfrey – Editor-in-chief
Will has worked as an editor and journalist in the human rights and drugs spaces for over a decade. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of The Influence (2015-2017), an award-winning publication covering drug policy and related areas. He also founded and ran Substance.com (2014-2015), a harm reduction-oriented news site, and was previously editor-in-chief of the addiction-focused site The Fix (2013). He formerly co-founded and edited Voice of the Ville, an award-winning print publication for incarcerated people in London (2006-2010).
Helen Redmond – Senior Editor
Helen has written about nicotine, mental health and drug policy for publications including Al Jazeera, AlterNet, Harper’s and The Influence. As an LCSW, she works with drug users in medical and community mental health settings. An expert on tobacco harm reduction, she provides training and consultation on mental health, nicotine use and THR, and in 2016 organized the first Tobacco Harm Reduction Conference in the U.S. Helen is also a documentary filmmaker, and produces original video for Filter.
Sessi Kuwabara Blanchard – Staff Writer
Sessi is a writer and organizer interested in cultural criticism, transnational politics and the ways that controlled substances are traded, policed and consumed. Having recently graduated from Vassar College with a degree in Philosophy and Women’s Studies, Sessi has kick-started her writing career, with work appearing in publications like Broadly, i-D, Pitchfork and them., among others.
Contributors
Josiah Bates; Quinn Bell; Amanda Bent; Chelsea Boyd; Elizabeth Brico; Keith Brown; Marc Burrows
Tessie Castillo; Samrat Chowdhery; Dolores Cloward; Michael Cooper; John Cross
Troy Farah; Jeselle S. Farias; Brooke Feldman; Seth Ferranti; Rory Fleming; Kevin Franciotti
Tracie Gardner; Drew Gibson; Giada Girelli; Marewa Glover; Diane Goldstein
Victoria Law; Alexander Lekhtman; Antony Loewenstein; Leili Lyman
Lucas Marten; Michael McGrady; Ryan Mirvis; Christopher Moraff; Ray Mwareya
JS Rafaeli; Trish Randall; Zach Rhoads; Khary Rigg; Jackie Rocheleau; Ivy Ann Rosado; Elizabeth Ryan
Simon Schatzberg; Kiran Sidhu; Zachary Siegel; Caty Simon; April Smith; Maia Szalavitz
Sheila P. Vakharia; Jenny Valentish; Louise Vincent; Niko Vorobjov
Carrie Wade; Neil Woods; Sheila Wren Hand
Pitching guidelines and contact details
Please send all email correspondence to: Editor [at] filtermag.org.
We welcome pitches for feature-length articles around our subject areas, including investigative reports, op-eds, essays and interviews. Please send proposals (rather than drafts) and a sample of your previous work. Due to volume of pitches, we regret we cannot reply to them all; we will get back to you within a week if your idea is one we can use.
Donate to Filter
As a nonprofit publication, Filter is funded entirely by donations and grants. If you wish to support our work of reporting on drug use, drug policy and human rights, please donate using the button below. We’re grateful for your support.
