Guidelines for submitting articles for publication in The Jewish Voice

PROVIDENCE – As a community newspaper with a small staff, The Jewish Voice relies on contributions from the local Jewish community.

We encourage synagogues, agencies, schools and other organizations, as well as individuals, to submit draft stories of 200 to 800 words.

Wondering whether a topic or event is newsworthy? Don’t be constrained by what you’ve seen in the past. If you have something that you believe would interest people in the greater Rhode Island Jewish community, we’d like to hear about it.  (If you want to write an opinion column or a letter to the editor, The Jewish Voice’s guidelines for those appear on our opinion pages in every issue.)

Here are our guidelines for articles:

• Please include the “who, what, when, where and why” of an event and a few sentences about what was different or special about the event.

•  If it is an annual event – such as an awards dinner or meeting – what happened this year that didn’t happen in previous years? What information was revealed that surprised or gratified people? If it is an annual conference, please give specifics on what participants learned and how they might apply this knowledge to their work in the community.

• As most readers appreciate learning about new developments, please try to include something that makes a frequently occurring event new and newsworthy. We are especially interested in reading pieces about an emerging trend or a growing concern, be it positive or negative – such as changing demographics, how to engage young people in communal Jewish life, etc. – though please focus on concrete developments, not your opinion, unless, of course, you are writing an op-ed column.

•  Include the names of the key people involved, the nature of the event and the place and date it happened. Check the spelling of names and include any relevant positions (board member, staff member, etc.) the people involved may hold.

• It is especially important that we receive information in a timely fashion (days, not weeks, after an event). We are less concerned with writing style and grammar, as we can edit your details into a good story.  So please don’t wait until you can polish your prose to submit material.

• Please include the name of a contact person, with a phone number and an email address.

•  We prefer to receive submissions as emails or email attachments. As a last resort, we can work from a typed document that is mailed or delivered to us.

• We accept many submissions, but we reserve the right to decline publication for a variety of reasons.  If we do accept a piece for publication, we reserve the right to edit the piece, for length and clarity, at our discretion. If we have questions or concerns, we will contact the person who submitted the piece to The Jewish Voice.

And, to respond to a question frequently asked, we do not generally accept original pieces previously published in another newspaper such as, for example, the Providence Journal, the New York Times, etc.

Thank you for contributing to our community. We welcome hearing from as many diverse and vibrant voices as possible to make The Jewish Voice a dynamic read for all.