We focus on issues and events of major interest to civil society or in which civil society groups play significant roles, and we strive to feature at least one civil society source per story. This source could be quoted directly as part of the central narrative or it might be a report or person quoted directly or paraphrased to provide essential context, comment, or background. We prefer sources that offer the most relevant insight on the issue to those who might be more well-known but less connected to the issue. And we are always careful to treat elite and non-elite sources with equal respect and equal skepticism.
Your article should have a “news hook.” As such, the article must be based on something that has recently happened, answering the question, “Why should we publish this now?” Your lead should be a straightforward, declarative, and active sentence summarizing the what, where, and when of the news hook. That said, OneWorld is more flexible than most outlets about what qualifies as a news hook, believing that anything that helps readers understand the world more completely is newsworthy. “Recent” is a relative term for us as well—if most readers will not have not heard about something already, then it need not have happened in the past 24 hours to remain newsworthy.
In assembling your story, try to present a simple narrative, for example by observing, not contorting, chronological order.
Include detail and background as necessary to understand the events about which you write. If any text serves only to show readers how much you know, remove it.
When researching your story, consider whether any member-organizations of the OneWorld network would have particular expertise or an important/unique perspective on the issue. OneWorld’s network includes more than 100 U.S.-based organizations working around the world and across the spectrum of human rights and sustainable development issues. OneWorld’s partners include international relief and development, advocacy, research and policy, and academic organizations. Here is a list of OneWorld partner organizations: http://us.oneworld.net/section/us/partnerlist.
General style notes:
Aim for between 600 and 900 words.
Follow conventional news or news-analysis style.
Write concise, declarative sentences.
Organize your thoughts and lay them out in two- to four-sentence paragraphs. Do not drift from one thought or theme to another within the same paragraph.
Attribute all quotes, paraphrased comment, facts, other significant assertions, and important background. The more attribution, the more reason for readers (and your editor) to trust you. If the attribution causes clutter, let the editor decide what to trim.
Use adjectives sparingly. Avoid vague ones such as “liberal” or “conservative.” Instead, state a relevant position that illustrates rather than obscures the point you are trying to make.
Explain or eliminate jargon. If you cannot, you do not fully understand the story.
Use appropriate forms of the past tense and avoid shifting between past and present tense—unless the action is past and present. When writing about reports, you may use the past or present tense.
Avoid distracting or bias-laden words like “opined” or “claimed” when “said” will do.
Double-check all your facts, spellings, titles and dates.
Spell out the proper name of an organization at first reference and follow this with the capitalized standard abbreviation in parentheses. You may use the standard abbreviation at second reference and common shorthand or a standard descriptive word (“panel” or “committee” or “agency”) at subsequent references.
Use “United States” and “United Nations” as nouns, “U.S.” (with periods) and “UN” (no periods) as adjectives.
Percent is one word, never a symbol.
Web site is two words, and the W in “Web” is always capitalized.
Spell out numbers from one through nine, then use 10, 11, 12, etc.
Spell out “first,” “second,” and so on. Do not use “1st,” “2nd,” etc.
Capitalize an official’s title only if it precedes the person’s name.
If you list countries, companies, or other entities, arrange them in alphabetical order unless they should be presented in order of size, population, market share, etc.
Avoid partial quotes. Do not use quotation marks with a single word unless absolutely necessary. If you have paraphrased a speaker’s words, remaining true to the speaker’s message, simply attribute the entire paraphrased sentence. Sometimes an exceptional term or phrase will justify a partial quote but usually this undermines credibility.
If you use a partial quote in a lead paragraph, provide the full quote from which it was taken before the fifth paragraph of your story.
Basic formatting tips
Use single-spaced lines. Do not indent paragraphs. Use only one space between sentences. Disable “smart quotes” (the kind that wrap around text) in your word processing settings. Use two single quotation marks instead of upper-case quotation marks for direct quotes.
Format articles thus:
Native Americans Want ‘Bunker Buster’ Test Stopped
YOUR CITY, Mar 24 (OneWorld) – Text text text.
New paragraph. Text text text.
New paragraph. Text text text.
And so on.
//ENDS//
LINKS (Here, provide the URLs of Web sites you used in reporting the story and others that readers might use to get more information on the story. This will help an editor who may need to check certain assertions in your article for factual accuracy.)
Thanks, and good luck! We look forward to reading your work.
