Dear Comrades,
CHALLENGE has run into the fortunate problem that many weeks we have too many articles to print during a given week. This means that more comrades are taking the responsibility of writing for the newspaper and are seeing the importance of writing articles that are important to the working class.
TIMELINESS
That said, we need to reiterate some standards so that all members and friends of the Party understand the process of publication of articles. The CHALLENGE Editorial Staff makes collective decisions about which articles are most important to the newspaper at a specific time. So timeliness is crucial to all articles. If you think your particular issue is relevant now then write the article now and send it in ASAP. Remember the staff (the very small staff) has to copy edit, send it out to translate and then proof read it once it is laid out for publication.
Sometimes we may not run an article because other events are viewed as more important especially if they are about class struggle in industry or the military.
So please have your articles in the off-week of CHALLENGE so it can be "processed" for lack of a better word.
Article Length = 300 – 600 words
Paragraph Length = 4 sentences long at most. Most paragraphs 2-3 sentences long
Many of the articles we've received lately have been very long and need to be cut down. CHALLENGE is only 8 pages long. Many complaints we receive also about the paper is that we don't have graphics or pictures. Many times we have to cut pictures or graphical elements because the articles are much too long.
Page 3 of the CHALLENGE (03/12/08) is a good example of what we're shooting for in layout and design. Remember we want a paper that reflects our politics, is easy to read and pleasing to the eye. This page while it is good could still use more white space. We also could have made the picture from Puerto Rico a lot bigger.
The Articles on this page average about 500 words each. Many articles we've received lately have been in the 800-1200 word range. Note that this page would be great reading at a total of 1200 words (not including headlines). Some articles may run a bit longer, like editorials. Letters should be no longer than 400 words.
So as a guide just remember these are our goals:
Half a page = 500-600 words
1/3 or a page = 300 – 400 words
Total Page = 1200
Speaking of Pictures, Graphics . . .
WE NEED THEM!!!
If you are going to demonstration, march, rally etc. please assign someone to take pictures. Latest technology allows for us to communicate pictures much easier and much cheaper now so there is no excuse for us having a lack of pictures from events we are at. If security is an issue be discreet and take a picture of a sign or groups of people from different or subtle angles.
If you don't see your article in the Newspaper . . .
It may have been cut due to collective decisions of the staff. It may run in the next issue. BUT, remember because we are a newspaper that has to keep up with contemporary news and issues, once cut, we may not run it because it is not timely anymore.
An example of this would be if someone just sent in an article about what happened in their area with the elections of February 5th (super Tuesday) . It is now March 20th. We're sure that many than things have happened in your area since February 20th that could be put more into the context of the recent election push than things that happened over a month ago.
This just underlies the first point, please send in your articles As Soon As Possible.
Comradely,
The CHALLENGE Staff