How to Get a News Article Accepted

These are my personal rules. The other editors may have their own, so don't take this as law. If any of the other editors disagree with some things or want to add onto this, I hope they comment.

Automatic Deletion:

Copied/Pasted - don't just copy/paste the article from another site and then put a link at the bottom. You should do an original opening paragraph or two and THEN insert a quotation from the article. Make sure you include the source link.

No Source Link - If you don't give me a source, I can't use it. We have to ensure against plagiarism.

Outdated - If we already have an article about it, we can't use it. If the boards have been discussing it for longer than 24 hours, it's old news. If it happened two weeks ago, it's old news. Try to find current things that haven't been discussed in the News or on the boards for longer than a day or two. Obviously, if you have some amazing, in-depth treatise on said board item, go ahead and pass it along. I've posted a couple of things about 9/11 this week.

It's easy to see if something is outdated. Look through the News for the past couple of days, and do a board search. I do this every night.

Some things are okay if they were announced in the world news a while back - movies in production, albums coming out, and so on. Those have a bit more sway with time than world affairs. Use your judgment.

Things That Drive Me Batty:

Not Enough Info - I've received many cool articles that only have a short sentence and then a quote from the article. This makes me think I should either a) wait for you to flesh it out a bit, which can end up putting it into Old News since you might not log on for a day or two or b) add information and flesh it out myself, which makes it MY work, not yours, and that's not what editors are supposed to do. We fix errors. We try not to rewrite. If I end up spending thirty minutes rewriting the article, I'm going to credit it as mine and give you a hat tip. This means I get the points for it, and I'm sure you don't want that to happen, now do you? Flesh it out!

Wrong Source Link - I've received some that involved bits of news from a few sources, and these are awesome, but you need to make sure you credit every source. If, in the middle of the article, you insert a quote from another source, put the link in there. If I only get one source link and can't find your quotation anywhere in that article, I can't use the quotation. I know this sounds a lot like a term paper, but it really is very important that the sources get credit.

Pictures Without Sources - Pictures are great! I love them. Just make sure you credit the picture if you didn't get it from the article. The photographer/website deserves the nod.


Hints:

Join the News group for a helpful Style Guide. We use this to edit articles. Since the editors belong to that group, you'll get a lot of feedback about formatting, style, sources, etc. It's also the best place to ask a question.

Be patient. We all have jobs, classes, families, and personal lives. If you submit an article and it isn't up after four hours, don't email me to ask if I've looked at it yet. We don't edit each other's sections, so don't ask me to check something in Technology or ask legionnaire to check something in Music.

If your article isn't up after 36-48 hours, chances are it was deleted. Some editors will let you know why, but don't expect us to. We just don't have the time.

Please read the News FAQ in the "Submit an Article" screen.

If you have a question, please ask. You can reach me through IM most of the day since I use it both for work and at home. IMs are more reliable than my journal. Email is fine, too. Everything is under my Contact tab.


[Edited on Sep 13, 2004 by Sorcha]

I've always wanted to post something like this but never had the time to sit down and write it. I Sorcha.

*bump for those who just woke up*

Thanks for that, that's really nice of yo-...wait. I'm in the same time zone as you and I just woke up. You've been awake for hours, getting things done, making society a better place. And I've been sleeping. I'm pathetic. I should send in a news article.

This is the only thing I have a beef (half a beef) with, because there's been cases where I've found it's more effective to let a quote speak for itself than to dilute it with copy. And I say only half a beef because it's a relatively rare instance.

never gonna happen with me, it just looks lazy, and if it's a story worth posting i'll just write something about it and get the points myself

but of course you'll get a hat tip for bringing the points to my attention.


i could live with just a quote with no intro maybe, if you then go and add a paragraph of your opinion on the story, but that's a maybe.

nicely done, sorcha!

That was recently frowned upon in the News group. Check the thread called "Bad Quoting" or "Bad Formatting". I can't remember which one it was, and I'm too sleepy to look.

I think Sorcha is right and this format is best for the newswire. That's why I've been doing it since I joined, anyway thanks for the heads up Sorcha...

I can't take full credit. Some of this has been passed onto me from the veteran editors. I'm still learning as I go.

also, don't post pictures of spiders if you want to keep the editors in a healthy heart rhythm.

You're lucky you're my friend.

That scared the shit out of me.

Can't I just do it the old fashioned way, you know, sleep with the editor so that they'll print my amuse tale filled with the most fabulous lies?

well i guess it's not a maybe anymore

i guess it depends on how good the sex would be.

I predict many Culture pieces in your future...

wel i know i'm already an editor, but if i ever want a music story posted, i wanna use that method

Ahhh.. old skool methods still work best. Excellent.

*bump*


FEED US NEWS! GET ARMY POINTS!

You know you wanna.

*bump*