- May 18, 2024
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There are few words in the English language that elicit more yawns than the word “audit.” My brother does audits for a living, and he has some boring stories to tell, I can assure you.
But, we recently received an exciting audit report at the Palm Coast Observer. According to Verified Audit Circulation, we deliver to 66.5% of Palm Coast homes — just as we expected. But the report shows that 71.5% of Palm Coast residents read the newspaper. That means many of you picked up your copy from a rack or one of the red boxes around Flagler County.
Thank you for being so generous with your time. We do not take it for granted. In our newsroom, I often give the following speech: “Our readers are busy people. Give them a reason to keep reading.”
When I’ve spoken to groups and organizations around town, one of the most common questions is, “How do we get something in the newspaper?”
Unfortunately, we can’t be at every event and meeting (although, if you look at Shanna Fortier’s schedule, you might disagree).
But we do try to include as many stories and photos as possible. Our criteria are simple: informative, entertaining and timely.
We have several departments in which we welcome outside submissions: Our Town, Letters to the Editor, Religion Notes, Community Calendar, Sidelines, Class Notes and Biz Buzz.
Our Town
Our Town is the most visible because it starts on the front page. We also dedicate Page 2 to Our Town. These are short stories and photos of neighborhood happenings and people gossip. We include everything from the new officers for the Stamp and Coin Club to the resident who gave birth all alone at home, while talking on two phones — one with her husband and one with her midwife.
Send engagements, weddings, anniversaries, and birthdays.
To submit Our Town stories, email Shanna Fortier at shanna @palmcoastobserver.com. If you have a picture to go with the story, be sure to give the full name of each person in the photo. Typically, we don’t have room to make the pictures very large, so smaller groups of two to four are the most likely to be used. And, this might sound simple, but don’t forget to answer the basic questions: who, what, when, where, why and how.
Letters to the Editor
Timely letters are given preference in a given week, but we publish all letters to the editor, as long as the letters are of general interest about local issues. Personal attacks are disqualified on the grounds that they are not of general interest. We also edit for length. If there is a factual error, we get the facts straight and clarify via an editor’s note.
To submit, be sure to include full name and city of residence. Address the letters, “Dear Editor,” and submit them to [email protected].
Occasionally, we highlight letters that are particularly well written, and we use then as “My View” guest editorials. We also encourage elected officials and other community leaders to submit their views on local issues.
Religion Notes
Send photos of people enjoying themselves at church picnics and parties, or stories of awards or church service projects to shanna@palmcoast observer.com.
Community Calendar
Community Calendar is for nonprofit events. We are often asked to include free events that offer information or kid activities, but that are put on by businesses and do not benefit any nonprofit organization. It’s our policy to not include these in Community Calendar. We ask that you purchase ad space, instead.
When you submit nonprofit events, look at a recent Community Calendar page and try to follow the same format as the other entries. Email them to [email protected] by noon the Friday before the desired publication date.
Typically, we don’t have room to include events more than one week before the event takes place. To ensure that the event gets maximum exposure, you can purchase an ad, in addition to the free calendar listing. Contact Advertising Manager Jaclyn Beckett at jaclyn@palmcoast observer.com for ad rates.
Some groups call us and are upset that their events were not included in the newspaper. We wish we could include every event that is sent to us — and most of the time we do — but occasionally, we have to cut events to fit the space on the page. In that situation, we try to select the events that will have the broadest appeal. Regardless, we do include all nonprofit events on www.PalmCoast Observer.com.
Sidelines
Sidelines are sports notes. We have included bowling scores, ball hockey, scholarships and high school and youth sports. Send Sidelines to Sports Editor Andrew O’Brien at [email protected].
Class Notes
If you are a teacher, this is a way to let the community know about your creative activities for students. If you have a reason to recognize individuals or groups of students, we would like to let our readers know. Send photos and stories to [email protected].
Biz Buzz
Send business stories about new hires, grand openings, community involvement, employee recognitions and financial summaries of the health of the company. If you have an employee of the month, this is the spot for you. The focus is ideally on people. Submit to Mike Cavaliere at [email protected].
There you have it: a tour of The Observer departments. We also accept submission for our front-page photo. And, we’ll be adding more departments as we expand, Email suggestions to [email protected].
