It”s a common complaint, and we hear it all the time. “I haven”t seen my article in the paper and I submitted it last week.” “You guys always print the stories that so-and-so brings in, why don”t you print mine?” “Why didn”t my article run the way I submitted it?”
We receive news from a variety of sources. Articles come in through the fax machine, some people walk in the office with a hand-written note and lately there have been quite a few that trickle in via e-mail.
We like news, that”s what we do here at the Record-Bee. If you have an event going on, we want to know about it. It doesn”t matter that it”s a bake sale, or a spaghetti feed, or the breakfast you hold every third Sunday of the month. We print a little blurb every now and again inviting the public to share their events with us and ultimately, the public by sending us copies of press releases.
To make a long story short, we need your help. To accommodate all the events that make our community unique, the Record-Bee editorial department needs the readers” help in getting as much community news into the paper as possible.
Probably the single most important thing you can do to help is submit your article by e-mail. I can”t begin to tell you how much easier it is for us to just grab the release off the Internet, photos and all, and drop it on the page. Every other method requires some form of manual transcription, and there”s just not enough of us anymore to tackle the job.
The second most important thing you can do it edit your release before we get it. Here are a few simple tips on editing your release:
” A basic rule that applies for everything submitted is that it ends up being formatted the way you see it every day in the paper. We don”t print flyers or statements like “it”s the most delicious pancake breakfast ever!” These things get routinely cut out of articles. You might as well leave them out.
” Don”t thank people in the middle of a story. If it”s in a quote that”s one thing, but little thank you”s peppered throughout a press release will be cut. (It”s more appropriate to save these sentiments for a separate thank you letter that gets submitted later on, after the event.)
” Please don”t capitalize everything. We just have to change it to regular text. This also goes for things that aren”t proper names. When in doubt, leave it down.
” Use time, date, place. It goes like this: “The fifth annual Lake County newswriting competition will be held at 2:15 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 16 at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Lakeport.
” Do use complete sentences, and provide stories in story form. Flyers require us to completely write a story from the barest of information.
” Include your phone number and e-mail address. We can”t call you without it.
As for calling up and asking when your story will run, well, that”s a dangerous subject. There are only a few people here who actually know when things run (these are generally the people that draw the actual pages), and every time I have ever promised someone that an article will run on a specific day, then something happens that proves me a liar. So, as a matter of principle, unless you call me and the story is on the page and ready to go, I just don”t promise publication dates. What I can tell you is whether or not we have the article, and if there are any problems with it. Aside from that, it runs when we have room and the article”s edited and ready to go.
Also, if you sent in a release and haven”t seen it yet or just want to make sure there are no problems with it, then by all means, call us. E-mail isn”t infallible, as perhaps you have seen our little blurbs about it going down recently. Participate in the production process by giving us a ring.
I believe that when the paper and the community work together we get the best product possible, despite limited resources and staff. As a department we are always here to answer any questions you might have and will work with you to make sure that all the news that belongs in the paper gets there in a timely fashion.
Thank you so much for your help.
Editor”s note: Aura Thomas is the news editor for the Lake County Record-Bee. You may contact her at 263-5636 ext. 32, or by e-mail at athomas@record-bee.com.
