Below is a list of things that I think will make the Marquis better and move more smoothly through the production process. Most newspapers adhere to Associated Press guidelines and the Marquis is no exception. If you want to go all out, the Associated Press Stylebook is a wonderful resource for writers, but I’ve included the most important issues here. If you have any questions about any of these, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email. If you have questions about using the Gateway to submit articles or photos, or if you have general questions, please send an email to .
—Kara Krekeler, Marquis editor
314-367-6612 ext. 29
Submission and style guidelines
•What is a Marquis story? Something that features people who live or work in our coverage area, which includes Lafayette Square, Benton Park, Compton Heights, Fox Park, the Gate District, LaSalle Park and McKinley Heights. City-wide issues and occasional Soulard or downtown stories are also acceptable. As for what kinds of stories we would run, for a general feel just read what is in the paper each month. It is your neighborhood and I rely on you to tell me what’s going on. Articles need to be 500-600 words to be published on the front page. Ideally a front page article also includes a photo.
• File names: Please make sure the file name corresponds with the topic of the article. When files come in with names like “Marquis article” or “final version” it can become really confusing at this end. It would also be helpful to have the date as part of the file name.
• Attachments: MS Word documents are preferred, but any word processing document saved as rich text format or plain text is fine. If there appears to be some kind of problem with uploading it to the Gateway, paste it into an e-mail.
• Upload the article once only: If you need to make a correction to an article you have uploaded, please delete the original article and upload the revised one. If you have changed your mind and no longer wish to submit an article, please delete it prior to the submission deadline. If you find out important information after the deadline (the correct spelling of a name, revised dates for an event, etc.) please send me an email. Sometimes I will ask you to clarify some information. Unless the new information drastically changes a story, you will not need to upload or send a revised version of the article.
• Headlines: There is no need to attempt to write headlines for your own stories. But if a magical play on words occurs to you, feel free to suggest a headline.
• Images: If you’d like a photo to run alongside your article, please provide high-resolution (at least 200 dpi) images in .jpg, .tif or .gif formats. Make sure you reference the photo in your uploaded article, for example you can type “See uploaded photo named example.jpg” on the top of the page. If you have a good photo that is not in digital form, please call or e-mail me and we will work something out. The same goes for photo opportunities — let me know about them well in advance and I will get someone to take a photo.
• Sidebars and bullet points: If it is proving difficult to organize your thoughts in a conventional story, feel free to use sidebars or bullet points. Please don’t separate bulleted lists into columns, however; due to the nature of newspaper layout, I have to reformat them and it will save us both time if they are simply left-justified like the rest of the article.
• Keep paragraphs short: In journalism a one-sentence paragraph is perfectly acceptable, even if it is outlawed in other kinds of writing. Newspapers have pretty narrow columns and long paragraphs can look awfully uninviting on the page.
• Returns not spaces: Put two returns at the end of each paragraph rather than using tabs to make an indentation. This makes life much easier at this end and the tabs are put back in automatically by the layout program.
• “Studies have shown that two spaces is approximately one too many.” According to the Digital Type Design Guide: The Page Designer’s Guide to Working with Type by Sean Cavanaugh: “Since the advent of the printing press in the 15th century, typesetters have never inserted two spaces after punctuation. As far as I can tell, inserting two spaces between sentences originated with high-school typing teachers.” Enough said.
• Times and dates: List the time, then the date; nothing is required between the two. If an event starts on the hour, it should be “2 p.m.” rather than “2:00 p.m.” Use noon for 12 p.m. and midnight for 12 a.m. to avoid confusion. Use “through” with dates, “to” with times.When writing months follow Associated Press style: Jan., Feb., March, April, June, July, Aug. Sept., Oct., Nov. Dec.
• Numbers: Spell out numbers less than 10 and use numerals for numbers 10 and higher. When using cardinal numbers — 35th annual Holiday Parlor Tour — do not use superscripts. This is a matter of overriding Word’s tendency to do things for you. The easiest way to do this is to write 35-space-th then to delete the space.
• Addresses: If a specific street address is used, abbreviate the second part of the street name if it is a boulevard, avenue, terrace or street (I remember it as BATS). If there is no street number, no abbreviation is needed (i.e. Jefferson Avenue).
• Titles: Use italics for the titles of movies, CDs, plays, books, art exhibits, magazines, newspapers and television programs. Put in quotes the titles of individual articles, short stories, individual songs, individual works of art and television episodes. Basically, if it can be considered part of a larger whole (a song on an album, a painting in an exhibit) it should be in quotes; otherwise, it’s in italics. Underlines and bolds are never used. If you’re in doubt, ask me.
• Collective nouns: Theater troupes, orchestras, companies, political bodies — in short, any kind of group —are considered singular not plural. Use “it,” not “they,” on second reference.
10/25/2018