AFTER DEADLINE
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By Anne Harpham
"How do I get my information in the paper?"
"How can I find out who to call when I have something that's worth a story?"
"Will you come to our school and do a story on us?"
Those (and questions like them) are frequent queries to the newsroom.
We want to know what is going on in our community, and while our reporters and editors are out and about gathering information, we know that many good ideas for stories come from our readers. But often they don't know how to get that information to us.
We publish our phone numbers and e-mail addresses throughout the paper and try to be accessible.
But I know quite well that as easy as we think it is, many people find getting their news in the paper a somewhat mysterious process.
It really isn't mysterious at all. You don't need to get fancy in sending us information. We do need it in writing and we do need the basic facts. Journalism students get the five W's and the H drilled in to them and they are a good guideline: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. Who is putting on or organizing the event? What is it about? When is it being held — both date and time. Where is it being held? Why is it being held — what is the impetus behind it, what is the background information? The how could be what you or your organization hope to accomplish.
A contact name and phone number are essential. And we need contact names and numbers that are realistic. If there is information we need and we can't track it down because the contact person is out of town or doesn't have information we need, your event likely won't get in the paper.
When it will run in the paper depends on other news we have so you should allow yourself — and us — some lead time.
Please don't send us unsolicited photos, but do let us know if you have a photo of a breaking news event. Our photo desk will be happy to let you know if we are interested in a particular photo.
Whom should you send information to? If you don't know which reporter the information should go to, send it to the editor of the appropriate section. Reporters' phone numbers and e-mail addresses generally run at the end of their stories and are on our Web site, honolulu advertiser.com.
Here are numbers and e-mail addresses for the various sections of the paper.
Local news:
Fax: 525-8037
E-mail: hawaii@honoluluadvertiser.com
City desk: 525-8090
City editor: Marsha McFadden, 535-2426
Business news:
Fax: 525-6763
E-mail: business@honoluluadvertiser.com
Business editor: Sandra Oshiro, 525-8063
Sports news:
Fax: 525-5491
E-mail: sports@honoluluadvertiser.com
Sports editor: Curtis Murayama, 525-8017
Features, entertainment and cultural events:
Fax: 525-8055
E-mail: islandlife@honoluluadvertiser.com
Features editor: Elizabeth Kieszkowski, 525-8034
Photos:
Fax: 525-8037
E-mail: photo@honoluluadvertiser.com
Photo editor: Seth Jones: 525-8079
And, as always, if you have a question about news coverage, you can call me at 525-8033.
Senior editor Anne Harpham is The Advertiser's reader representative.
