By Jason Sethre
Publisher
Fillmore County Journal
jason@fillmorecountyjournal.com
It’s that time again.
We have another election around the corner, which means our team at the newspaper will be fielding calls, letters, and e-mails from readers wanting to share their political views to sway the masses.
I want to set the table for this upcoming election so that we alleviate any confusion.
First, there are two lengths for commentary submissions. A Letter to the Editor is 300 words or less. A Guest Commentary is 301 to 700 words, and must include the photo of the author. Any submissions exceeding the word limits will be discarded or rejected. We will not trim down or rewrite any submissions that do not meet these word count guidelines.
Second, the “Commentary” section is intended for our local readers. We receive submissions from people outside of our coverage area, and they often don’t make the cut. Our newspaper is a representation of our local residents, and we like to keep it that way.
Third, authors may have a commentary piece published no more than once every 30 days. Keep in mind, if you send us a commentary, do not expect for it to get published immediately. We received a lot of content every week, and we can’t always fit it in the newspaper. So, plan ahead.
Fourth, the content of commentary submissions comes with strict guidelines. From now until June 30, 2022, readers can submit a commentary either for or against candidates running for office. But, keeping it respectful will increase your odds of getting published. From July 1, 2022, until election day, commentary submissions must be focused on topics; not candidates. We want to avoid having the commentary section turn into the campaign section.
If you would like to submit a commentary piece, you will increase your odds of getting it published sooner if you send it to us via e-mail at news@fillmorecountyjournal.com. You can mail it to us at Fillmore County Journal, P.O. Box 496, Preston, Minn. 55965. However, if you mail it to us, and we have to transcribe what you have sent to us by mail, it will take longer and will not get published as quickly as you may like. E-mail is preferred for the sake of efficiency, but please don’t let that deter you from sending your opinion piece for publication.
One last thing. We reserve the right to not publish a commentary submission at the publisher’s discretion.
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