Since October 1963, the Sedona Red Rock News has been the small-town community newspaper covering Sedona. With deep ties to our community, we cover issues that directly affect our residents.
We investigate the inner workers of local and county governments, report on successes, failures, tragedies and triumphs of our residents and hope to provide in-depth and up-to-the-minute news, so residents know what’s going on in the town they call home whether they are new to Sedona or have been here for generations like we have.
Arts events, musical performances, nonprofit fundraisers and activities, school events, contests open to the public, awards and achievements earned by residents and stories that affect children, the elderly or the less fortunate make for great news items. The more people the story affects, the more likely it’s a good story for us to cover.
Senior reporter Ron Eland covers the big regular meetings in Sedona, like Sedona City Council and the Sedona Fire District.
Copy editor and reporter Natasha Heinz writes about the Sedona Airport, arts and entertainment, handles our social media sites and posts to our website.
We are currently in the process of hiring a second copy editor and reporter who covers Sedona education and general news assignments.
Sports reporter Ivan Leonard covers local school sports teams and outdoor recreation.
Jon Hecht covers news from the Camp Verde and Cottonwood areas, but also writes in-depth stories about Yavapai County and Yavapai College.
Photojournalists Daulton Venglar and David Jolkovski shoot stand-alone photos, as well as images to better illustrate news stories.
Our typesetter Jo Page handles all the incoming press releases, columns and letters to the editor that I forward to her.
They all have contacts in the community who suggest stories or they find them while attending other events. If you think a particular news story would be best covered by a particular reporter, their contact information can be found at the end of their individual stories.
Email is the best method because if a news story is better served just as a press release or by another reporter, they can forward the entire message and get the item into our cycle for the week. If you see them out and about covering the news, introduce yourself and ask for a business card. We’re all down to earth and relatively friendly.
You can also email me a press release describing the Five W’s: Who, what, when, where and why — as in “why should a reader want to attend?”
Press releases don’t need to be intimidating to write — a 100-word press release can be just as effective. Include a photo or a mugshot of a speaker, if it applies, but make sure the photo is large, at least 1 megabyte, preferably at 200 to 300 dpi, otherwise they’re too small to use. My reporters are always looking for interesting stories, so I’m often forwarding your emails to them. Send press releases to me at editor@larsonnewspapers.com.
As the editor, I try to get in every press release and photo sent to me, but my available space is limited. If I have 600 column inches of space in an edition, but 900 column inches of copy and photos, not everything will get in. If a release doesn’t appear, don’t let that deter you from sending another in the future.
If your particular event or activity absolutely must get in the paper somehow, contact our Advertising Department at 282-7795 and purchase a display ad. The ad runs for certain because it’s being paid for. The press release may or may not appear, depending on space available. If both run, you’ve reached our audience twice, but if the press release doesn’t, at least our thousands of readers have seen your event at least once.
We also publish the Cottonwood Journal Extra, which goes to homes in Cottonwood, Clarkdale, Jerome and Cornville, and The Camp Verde Journal, which is published for readers in Camp Verde, Beaver Creek, Rimrock and Lake Montezuma. Some stories from Sedona are also published in these other papers and some of their stories appear in Sedona’s paper, while many press releases are published in all three.
We run two wesbites, redrocknews.com and journalaz.com, two Facebook pages, two Twitter pages, two Instagram feeds and a YouTube channel, so you can follow us on social media in addition to subscribing to our print edition.
For me and my staff, news isn’t just a job. We know every story helps inform our residents about the goings-on in the community and the events, achievements and tragedies that happen to our neighbors. The NEWS isn’t just our newspaper — it’s yours.
— Christopher Fox Graham
Managing Editor
