It’s a simple enough procedure to get your news into the newspaper, but there are some things you ought to know first.
“News,” according to the journalistic definition, is “that which is of the greatest interest to the greatest number.”
When your group hosts a free event; when the statewide head of your organization speaks locally to your organization; when your church holds it annual picnic; when your group sponsors a public forum; or when a sports championship is decided in our community we want to know because our readers want to know.
These are events that shape the lives of those in Sedona and the Verde Valley.
We offer the following suggestions and have established various procedures to make it easy for organizations and individuals to get news into the newspaper.
- An organization should appoint, name or elect one individual to handle publicity or the dissemination of news. It is good to know the proper channels to use and, therefore, make it easier to get information in the newspaper.
- Determine which section of the paper you think the news items should appear, like The Scene arts section, the calendar or the Opinion page, then contact us. A member of the Editorial Department staff can advise you on what to do — whether it’s sports, feature or general news.
- Very few news items can be handled over the telephone. Send us a press release by email about your event. Sometimes a staff writer may be assigned to take the information and write a story. Because of the volume of news items, it is impossible to assign a staff writer to every event, so write a press release as if that will be published.
Even if you feel you can’t write well, just submitting the information to us in a story form will help tremendously. - If you send a photo, make sure it is at least 1 megabyte or larger. Low-resolution photos, like those taken from a website, are of too poor quality to publish. Make sure the photo is yours or that you have written permission from the photographer or owner of the copyright before submitting it to us.
- If you have a civil law complaint or are alleging a crime, contact law enforcement or a lawyer. Even the best investigative journalist can’t give legal advice, can’t investigate criminal wrongdoing without documentation or evidence and can’t access private documents. Once you’ve filed a lawsuit or police report, or have evidence in hand, please contact us. Once a case is filed, we can obtain the documents from the court.
- You may wish to make a personal visit to our office to discuss a story with a reporter. Our busy staff are often on assignment or on deadline and not always available, so call for an appointment.
- Often, it is simple enough to just email the information to us. If a time element is involved, be sure the information is sent to the newspaper well in advance of the event’s date. Allow at least two issues to get your news items into the newspaper. Two weeks ahead is a safe window but earlier is always best.
The last possible time for submitting information to the Sedona Red Rock News is Friday for the Wednesday edition and Monday for the Friday edition. For The Camp Verde Journal and the Cottonwood Journal Extra the deadline is Thursday at 5 p.m.
Items are published on first-come, first-served basis, dependent on space, so don’t wait for the last-minute to send in your news items.
Completeness is important. Are the names correctly spelled in full? Are titles — chairwoman, vice president, executive director — listed? Does your story tell the date, time, place of the event you are announcing? Be brief and to the point; it saves time for all concerned, but be sure you include all the necessary information.
Finally, list your name and telephone number. The reporter or copy editor must know the source and whom to contact for clarification, if necessary, and readers need to know who to email or call if they have questions. Never assume we at the newspaper or readers already know what you know.
Some of the best local news stories are missed because we never got a news tip. If you are aware of something newsworthy happening, call us at 282- 7795 or email me at editor@larsonnewspapers.com.
Christopher Fox Graham
Managing Editor
