Is there anywhere where you're able to submit a story/comic/graphic to the newspaper without actuall applying for a job with the paper?

I'm pretty sure you have to be in the paper.

But if you think you've got something worth submitting, why don't you apply?

I don't think Poke wants to apply for a single article and leave. I do like his suggestion though. The Salcast allows users to submit their own material without being on the team, so maybe the newspaper should adopt a similar system. I know that I've wanted to write a few things but couldn't commit to the whole process or be consistent so I never applied. The section leaders could review the reader submitted articles, help the writer work out a few bugs, and then possibly see their article in the upcoming newspaper release.

This came up before and we discussed it in the Newspaper Forums and decided not to accept submissions from people who have no applied.

I'll post a link to this in the Newspaper Forums though, so all the staff see it.

Any particular reason why not?

It's come up a few times in different contexts. One was a former member of staff who resigned due to foreseen inactivity but then continued trying to submit the continuation of a story that was already partially published. Another has been a similar situation to this one - a one-off article contribution. On the flip side, the staff have discussed the possibility of inviting guest articles in particular sections, but this seems to be dormant for the time being.

The problems are:

• We have an editorial process that uses the forums accessible only to staff members
• We have a production timetable that is visible only to staff members
• The logistics of moving articles via PM add a(n unnecessary) layer of complexity to organising articles.

N.B. As a matter of policy articles must not be in the public domain before publication in the Newspaper, so anything appearing in these guest forums or in an application will not be published.

All of that said, without knowing what Poke has in mind, it's hard to make a sensible judgement. Poke - why not PM an appropriate section head or one of the editors with your proposal or, as Stobbo suggested, simply apply - it's not so arduous.

I realize your point about public articles and I fully agree with it. Couldn't the writer work with the team leader on the article privately and then work it in with your system once the team leader is pleased with the article? Let's say I write a tech article that isn't time crucial and I submit it to Stobbo, the Technical team leader. He reviews it on his own, and returns it with a few points to change. I can then rework the article and resubmit it to Stobbo. He once again reviews the article and this time he's satisfied with it. Now he submits it to the Newspaper via your system and follows the procedures. Depending on how it goes, he can let me know on whether my article won't work with the newspaper, or it will be used in a later release. Because the article isn't time crucial, preparing it for the next newspaper shouldn't be a concern.

Personally, I would rather write one article every now and then instead of jumping on and off the team. If I was in a higher position looking down, I would frown upon a user who isn't stable with his/her position.

Poke just join us, I'll make sure you get into graphics

Were it so simple...

We track and move the articles around the Newspaper forums in order to maintain a current state of progress. If for any reason a section head fails to complete his section, just from the location and status of each article it should be possible for someone else to pick up and carry on working with it. Not so easy with PM'd articles. It's a big burden on the section heads to be the sole reviewer of each article in their section, so we post them up for all (staff) to see and invite multiple opinions which the author can then incorporate in the article if seen fit. We also appreciate a modest degree of commitment to the paper, but the concept of guest articles has been broached before and I gave it the green light in my section six months ago, although no one (from the existing staff) has followed up with the idea yet.

This is what I'm slightly worried about.


If I apply, I will be anything but active. As far as I know, there is no way you can submit something as a one-off.

But, I never really knew how the newspaper works, and I didn't know that extra forums are opened up concerning submitted items when you join. Thanks for explaining this. If it is nigh-upon-impossible to submit something on one occasion then this can be closed.

I wouldn't put it so strongly. It adds a layer of complexity and the Newspaper production is already a fragile process. If you can find a suitably willing sponsor among the section heads or editors, I'm sure it could work out.

I'm a newspaper editor on footiemanager. I only have to edit a few articles a week. I can imagine trying to edit hundreds of articles would be extremely tiresome and take a very long time. People often think editing is easy, but it can be quite hard trying to edit an article without altering it too much whilst keeping it grammatically correct. Hence having people submit articles just will not work. I think you guys do a great job so keep it up!

Unless it's it's offensive, a picture wouldn't have to be edited at all.

Dont you have to BE or ask someone to be on the newspaper to write unoffensive articles?