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Clipper Q&A

CLICK HERE to Submit Your News

You can send your news items or ideas to: info@clipperpubco.com

What's news at our newspapers?

We feel news is what is new, different, unusual and of widespread importance and impact to our communities.

Ask yourself who will be interested in your story. If you think the public would find the story interesting, call or email us.

The Clipper is interested in stories about people and events in our communities. We do not print national news. We leave that job for the daily papers. The only time we may print a state, national or international news story is if it has a local angle .

Advertising and news is separated in the paper. We want to help promote community activities, but we don't allow advertising in our news stories. Although we regularly run stories about what events are coming in the area, we do not include information such as where tickets are being sold and how much they cost, that's advertising.

We are always interested in stories about what area clubs are doing, but we want more than just the date of the meeting, who attended and a list of items discussed. If your club has a speaker tell us what important things the speaker said. By giving some of the "heart" of the speaker's comments, you will make your clubs story much more interesting and more people will read it.

Don't give us just a list of club projects, provide details of what your club has done or what it will do. New club officers are news when they are elected, installation is generally not news.

Strong human interest items that tug at your heart strings are fun to read and usually are news. If you run across a human interest item either in your club activities or outside, let us know.

Items are news only when they are new. Bring us your news as soon as it happens. We will not use items much more that a few weeks old.

If your are not sure if what you have is news, give us a call at (308) 647-5158, we can help you decide.

How to write a press release

Write the most important facts first, then write the remainder of the facts in descending order of importance. That way, if there is room in the paper for only a part of your story, the editor can pick up the important facts in your story in the first few lines.

We reserve the right to edit any news item we receive. We try to correct spelling, avoid duplication and stay away from soliciting our readers' money. If it is critical that information appear exactly as you write it, buying advertising space is the route for you to take.

  1. If you can not email the information to us, use a sheet of white paper about 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches. Use one side only.
  2. If possible, type the release in the submission box that you will see when you select the tab "SUBMIT NEWS" menu button or email it to us at: info@clipperpubco.com.
  3. Include all names, but always double-check spellings. Give first and last names of all people mentioned in your story. We prefer to get "John and Mary Doe" instead of "Mr. and Mrs. John Doe."
  4. The article should always answer the "five W's": Who, What, When, Where and Why.
  5. Be brief and use simple direct sentences.
  6. Always put the name and phone number of the person who knows the most about the story so that we can call that person if we need more information.
  7. If you are in doubt as to how to write the story, read some of the articles in a past issue to see how news articles are constructed.

Letters to the Editor: Guidelines

We love to get Letters to the Editor.

Be pertinent to our readers. Letters for publication should originate with someone in our area and deal with something of local interest.

Letters are not a substitute for advertising.

Include your name, address and phone number. We won't use unsigned letters.

We reserve the right to choose which letters to share with our readers. You should specify, not for publication, if you prefer. Your opinions are welcome (even critical ones).

Brief is better. We will edit for length if necessary.

No more than one letter per writer in 30 days.

Any letter "attacking" a person, organization or business with unsubstantiated claims will be disregarded.

Photographs

Good photographs make the newspaper interesting. Human interest items make the best photos. People working on projects generally make good news pictures. We try not to take boring pictures, and usually look for a different angle.

Be sure to discuss photo ideas with us in advance. Call or see us during office hours. Be realistic, do not expect to get a photographer by calling on Saturday or Sunday or some evening unless the event is very unusual.

With time and space limits, we cannot run photographs of all activities. We determine whether or not we will print a photo by three criteria - space available, news worthiness of the event, and quality of the photo.

When space allows, the Reporter, Clipper and Sunbeam will accept news photos that you take, but there are  few basic rules to follow when taking a photo for us.

  • We prefer good contrast color prints or black and white prints to be emailed to us as a jpeg. We can also scan prints that are mailed to us.  They should not be too dark. They should be in sharp, clear focus:
  • "soft touch" style pictures reproduce poorly in the paper.
  • Get as close as possible when taking the picture. Fill the frame of your viewfinder.
  • Identify the people as they appear, from left to right. Include full names and explanatory information with the photo.
  • Photos will not be returned by mail unless you include a self addressed, stamped envelope. The newspaper is not responsible for any damage done while in transport. You may pick up your photo the day it appears in the paper.

News items can carry over

Sometimes articles submitted for publication are held over for another week.

This is because there isn't room in that issue of the paper.

We would like to print all items when they come in, but are unable to sometimes because of the lack of advertising. Each issue must have enough revenue to cover the cost of printing it.

Obituary submissions welcome

This paper will print without charge obituaries of individuals with local connections. You may have funeral directors email or fax the information to us, or bring us a copy, and photo if possible.

Meeting records are of two types

Nearly every issue of your hometown news includes a section labeled public notices. Items under this heading are required by law to be printed publicly. Examples include notices of upcoming government meetings, notices about selling estates or renewing liquor licenses, formation of new corporations and proceeding of council or school board meetings.

To keep the public informed, the legislature mandates that certain things be published "in a newspaper of general circulation." These items are prepared by the board or attorneys involved and are run in the paper as paid advertising. The rate charged is set by the Nebraska legislature. News reports, usually prepared by newspaper staff, are different items. News articles are often about meetings, but do not attempt to cover everything that happens or to treat all actions equally. Some actions are more important that others. A good article shows the intent of a  decision and what it means to people, as well as telling that the decision was made. When club reporters submit coverage of their organizations, these should be in the style of news articles, telling who, what, when, why, where and how.

As advertising, we keep public notices separate from the news and identified as such so there is no confusion. They are for the benefit of all, as well-informed citizens.

Weekly deadlines

Deadline for news and advertising copy is 5:00 p.m. on Monday. (When there is a Monday holiday, deadline is noon Friday.) Late copy disrupts routine and space planning and can cause additional hours of work in the mechanics of your newspaper. This, in turn, limits the time we have to prepare feature stories, ads, photographs and other elements of the paper.

The paper is printed in the early afternoon on Wednesday. In order to label, bundle and bring it to the Post Office by mid-afternoon, we encourage all items to be submitted prior to the deadline.

Copy received after the deadline is handled on a space-available basis.

 

The Shelton Clipper

P.O. Box 640
Shelton, NE 68876
1-308-647-5158