Contribute

Overall:

• We pay contributors of original reporting and photography for print publication and use online. Original published journalism written or photographed specifically for The Independent News is the property of Pungo Publishing Co., LLC. That means you cannot write a paid work-for-hire story for us and sell or give it to another publication or to a business or subject of the work for their use. We do not pay for work that cannot be published. We may, at the editor’s discretion, pay a “kill” fee for reported pieces.
• We do not pay for opinion pieces by government officials, representatives of organizations, personal opinion pieces that are not commissioned or letters to the editor. These pieces will be edited to the same standard as staff or regular contributor columns.
• We pay for some first-person columns that involve original reporting, expertise or personal experience. Paid work becomes the property of Pungo Publishing Co., LLC.
• We pay for commissioned columns. Paid work becomes the property of Pungo Publishing Co., LLC.
• Payment is made following publication, generally within a month.
• Contributors are not employees of Pungo Publishing Co., LLC. Freelance work is work for hire.
• We do not offer internships. Any freelance work or column submitted to use by a student journalist may be considered, but it must adhere to our standards and it will be treated as any other work. The editor alone decides what to run or spike.

The basics of submitting to us:

• Journalism writing or reported columns must be commissioned, so please send a pitch via the email address at this link. Our standard payment is $50 for an initial reported news or feature story or a column that relies upon original reporting. Regular contributors and journalists with significant experience are paid more for reported news or columns. We can work with you a bit on the writing and approach to the subject matter, but our priority is on accurate, truthful, fair reporting and representations. Our ethics policy applies to all contributors. It is extremely important to credit all sources of information within the text of submissions, including information that comes from other news sources.
• Photography should include a high resolution digital image or images that are original and unedited and in a common format such as JPEG and in the largest possible size file. Please send a cutline that accurately describes the subject of your original image, where it was taken, and on what day and date. Our standard payment is $25 per image for use in the paper and online. Regular or commissioned contributors are paid rates established with the publisher. People who provide courtesy photographs or publicity images are not compensated. Please do not alter images. Our ethics policy applies to all contributors.
• Personal opinion pieces and letters to the editor are welcome for use in the paper and online. We do not pay for these submissions. Please include your name, the community or area where you live, and a phone number. We will not publish the phone number, but we must be able to contact you prior to publication. We edit these submissions for grammar and, particularly for the print edition, space. Please understand that writing for publication is not like posting an opinion on social media, and only the editor decides what will or will not be published. We do not publish personal attacks, defamatory or false material. Send letters to letters@princessanneindy.com. Send queries to jhd@princessanneindy.com.

The Point of Contact:

• John-Henry Doucette is the managing member of Pungo Publishing Co., LLC, founded in early 2015. He publishes and edits The Princess Anne Independent News. Please reach him by email at jhd@princessanneindy.com or on his cell at (757) 502-5393.