News reports and articles can be either stimulating or boring for the reader.  Naturally, we prefer to stimulate our readers and get them thinking and talking. We offer the following guidelines to organize your thoughts and produce a well-written and meaningful piece.

We require the following with all news and opinion article submissions:

• For our internal files only, not for publication: Author's first and last name, home address, telephone and email.
• Short paragraph about the author.
• A headline that says it all or that will capture the reader’s attention.
• The first paragraph as a lead-in summary of what the reader can expect to find by continuing to read.  See "Writing for the Web" below.
• Sources and quotes cited — where you found the facts, figures, details.  For example, “The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a report on June 29, 2007, which stated American farmers had planted 92.9 million acres of corn in 2007.” If links to your source material are available, provide those so we can direct the readers to the original content and more info.

Read our Privacy and Copyright Policy regarding your submittal.

Read Writing for the Web by Pagosa Graphics Design, Inc.  Although this was written with websites in mind, the journalism basics apply to any article.

Select subject matter that catches the reader’s attention.  Is the topic newsworthy?

From the onset have a clear idea of what you’re trying to convey to the reader.  Ask yourself:  What do I want the reader to understand?  What tone of voice do I want to convey – strong, gentle, appreciative, enthusiastic?

An outline can be helpful for beginning writers to maintain a smooth and logical progression of information from one step to the next.  More experienced writers may balk at the use of a predetermined outline which can restrict and limit their thoughts and expressions as their piece progresses.  Is there a beginning, middle and ending?  If the information doesn’t flow smoothly, edit and move text so that it does.

Use correct grammar, including nouns (subject) and verbs (action by the subject), spelling and punctuation.  Avoid run-on sentences that are two or more complete sentences that run together without punctuation and conjunctions (and, but, or).

State the facts or opinion clearly and concisely.  Avoid overstatements (exaggerations), long and repetitive details, and fancy words just to make it sound intellectual.  Use varying sentence lengths to keep the reader’s attention.

Avoid qualifiers – sort of, kind of, actually, probably, typically, basically.  Qualifiers undermine the text and create fuzziness in the reader’s mind.

Avoid clichés – phrases or expressions that have lost their originality because they’ve been overused.  Some examples are:  cold turkey, shape up or ship out, first come first served.

Use active voice, rather than passive.  Active voice means the subject noun performs the action of the verb.  For example, “The commissioner presented the growth study research.”  In passive voice, this example would be, “The growth study research was presented by the commissioner.”

In news articles write in third person style, using “he, she, it, they”.  Third person is more objective and authoritative.  For opinion articles, first person (I, we, ours) and second person (you, your, yours) are appropriate and oftentimes more powerful.

From your research, produce actual or real facts, figures, details and quotes.  Even an opinion piece can be non-productive if the opinion is based on inaccurate information.  Verify facts with a fact checking website.

Avoid libel and slander.  If individuals or entities have done something illegal, inappropriate, or unethical, produce the facts showing the illegalities, rather than producing a libelous assumption or statement.

Do not steal or plagiarize other people’s written material or verbal statements.  If you use other people’s material, put the information in quotes and give them credit.

The Durango Guardian will not publish any material that relates to multi-level marketing or affiliate programs purely for personal business promotion. To promote your business consider placing an ad with us.  We will publish business newsworthy articles – new staff, locations, products, scope of operations.

Other great reference tools are the Associated Press Stylebook and writing guidelines of other internet and print magazines and newspapers.

Happy Writing!