TMJ News is an independent media outlet that encourages a community driven collective through writing, storytelling and multi-media. In this spirit, TMJ News welcomes submissions from both prolific and green writers, reports, producers, video makers, cartoonists, artists and photographers. While we cannot guarantee publication of submissions, we will respond to all queries whose pitches we take an interest in.
We are looking for original news stories and analysis pieces that can be published exclusively to TMJ. We are especially keen to publish stories that offer an alternative and fresh perspective in media, stories about faith and spirituality, and marginalized voices. Please familiarize yourself with TMJ News content before sending us your body of work.
SOURCES
Human sources must be named (by first and last name) and contextualized. If a source does not agree to be named in print, their name must be provided to the editor, and the article must provide a compelling explanation for the source’s anonymity.
Citations (see below) must be from reliable sources. When citing lengthy source material, please provide page numbers specifying where supporting documentation is located to expedite our fact-checking process.
Please submit this supporting material as embedded hyperlinks in your word processing document (i.e. Microsoft Word document).
If for some reason you cannot embed the hyperlinks, please list the URL BOLDED AND IN BRACKETS immediately following pertinent words intended to be hyperlinked. Use [ ] for brackets, never < >. DO NOT INCLUDE ANY HTML CODING.
Please highlight two to five words or a key phrase related to the linked content when you hyperlink. (i.e. “the ACLU report”; “an article in The Washington Post”; “dozens of people were arrested” etc.) Please do not repeat links unless there is some distance between them and there is NO alternative link available.
FOOTNOTES
In keeping with journalism standards, we ask that authors eschew footnotes in favor of embedded hyperlinks, EXCEPT in the case of academic-oriented submissions. Even in academic submissions, if the source is simply a URL, please hyperlink; do not footnote. When footnotes are necessary:
DO NOT USE auto-linked subscript or anchored footnotes in text. Please ONLY use plain numbers inside parentheses. i.e. (1)
Endnotes should be plain numbers as well, followed by a period. i.e. 1.
If endnotes contain more than one or two URLs, please make sure there is enough relevant text at the endnote location in which to embed the URLs. (If an endnote consists only of URL(s) with no expanded explanation, a hyperlink is the appropriate form of citation, not an endnote.)
HTML Coding
Please do not use HTML coding in your submission.
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
Please use subheadlines to break up longer pieces.
Please list at least four suggested tags, separated by commas, between your byline and your suggested story summary, above the body of your story.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
TMJ News strongly prefers use of the editorial voice (eschewing “I,” “me,” “mine” and the general informality common to blog posts) in all submissions for publication unless for the opinion section.
Submissions devoted primarily to unsubstantiated opinion are strongly discouraged.
REPRINT SUBMISSIONS
While we don’t prioritize reprints, we are open to the idea of republishing work that has appeared elsewhere, as long as you currently hold the rights to reprint your work and have permission from the outlet where it has first appeared. If you are submitting an article for republication, please follow the formatting suggestions below for reprints.
Please send the original URL with the text of the article in the body of the email to submissions@tmj.news
The subject line of your email should begin with “REPRINT:” followed by your last name, the name of the publication in which your work originally appeared and the article title.
See an example of a correctly formatted reprint submission.
(Your submission should be copied and pasted in the body of an email.)
NO SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS
Please DO NOT submit to TMJ News simultaneously with a number of outlets: We want either original and exclusive submissions. Articles posted to any other site — including your own personal site — must be submitted as reprints. Please do not incorporate material you have published elsewhere into your piece without proper attribution.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE SUBMISSIONS
Please send your clean final submission to submissions@tmj.news in a .doc file — as well as copied into the body of your email. Include your name; contact information; your submission’s word count; and a brief (one to two-line) biography, with embedded hyperlinks to your website, Twitter account, etc., if you would like them included; and a JPEG of a headshot photo, if you would like that included.
The subject line of your email should begin with “SUBMISSION:” followed by your last name and the article title.
All submissions are subject to an editorial review process, proofing and possible headline change. Final headlines are chosen by the editors. Writers will be consulted if major editing is required. The review and publication process may take as long as three weeks, or exceptionally, even longer if the topic is not time sensitive. If there is a stale-by date or other critical time element to your submission, please indicate that prominently in your submission email.
Word Count
For writers not previously published by TMJ News, we suggest opinion submissions be limited to 750 words, news analysis to 1,200 words and straight news stories to 2,000 words. Please send final drafts only. Our staff is small and revisions are time-consuming. If intervening events between submission and publication necessitate revisions, please resubmit your original text with revisions highlighted or in bold text.
Formatting
Place only a single space between sentences.
Place only a single line break between paragraphs.
Do not indent paragraphs.
In your word-processing program, turn off “word wrap.”
All dates, times and months must be spelled out, i.e. December 10, 2010, never “last Tuesday,” “next week,” “tomorrow” etc. Since time of publication may be significantly later than time of submission, this is essential for the story to remain accurate and usable.
Please spell-check your work.
Please submit all copy in Times New Roman, 14-point font.
Please avoid pasting photos, tables or other visuals directly into Word documents with text. Instead, mark in the text where photos should be placed (i.e. “Photo 1 and Caption text and photo credit”) and attach visuals as separate files, with corresponding file names. Please only submit original photos, images under fair use, creative commons licenses or images for which you own the publishing rights.
References must appear as embedded hyperlinks. In rare instances, they can appear as manually created (not auto-formatted) footnotes, as described at length above.
See an example of a correctly formatted original submission.
(Your submission should be submitted as a Word .doc file.)
Please note that any work published by TMJ News will be copyright TMJ News and no other site may reprint without TMJ’s explicit and specific permission. Such requests should be directed to submissions@tmj.news. You will be able to repost the article to your personal site after it appears on TMJ News. Trusted noncommercial outlets will also be given permission to reprint your article at no charge. All reprints must indicate “Copyright, TMJ News. Reprinted with permission.” Our choice to copyright our original material this way reflects our desire to spread reliable information, critical thought and progressive ideas in cooperation with others who share our goals.
MULTIMEDIA SUBMISSIONS
TMJ News is on the lookout for original online video content, photographs, and images that highlight news topics with national appeal.
We are open to republishing work that has appeared elsewhere, as long as you currently hold the rights to reprint your work.
When sending your multimedia content, do not include any attachments. Send us a link — private or password protected if necessary — to your content.
If we determine that we wish to use your content, we will email you with more information on how to send it to us.
Please use this format to submit content:
Videos should be non-compressed and in .MOV format.
Photos and images should be minimum 490×300 pixels and can be in .PDF, .JPEG, .GIF, .PNG format.
Audio files should be in .MOV, or MP3 format.
Send your submissions to the multimedia editors via submissions@tmj.news with the link and password information to your work. Please include your name, contact information, a brief bio, and proper credits and captions for photos.
Place “Multimedia Submission:” in the subject line of your email, followed by the title of your work. You must be the sole copyright holder of your submissions, including any images that appear in your videos.
Publication on TMJ News is voluntary, and both parties shall hold one another harmless from any damages resulting from said publication.
Please do not submit items that:
Are not yours (by rights) to submit, post, disseminate or transmit;
Are unlawful, harassing, defamatory, abusive, threatening, obscene, harmful, tortuous, libelous or invasive of another’s privacy;
Infringe or violate any party’s copyright, trademark, trade secret, patent or other proprietary right;
Contain any viruses, worms or other harmful, disruptive or destructive files, code or programs;
Include any unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, chain letters, spam, junk mail or any other type of unsolicited mass email to people or entities that have not agreed to be part of such mailings.