The NewPeople Guidelines for Submission

The NewPeople is a monthly peace and justice newspaper of Pittsburgh and the Tri-State area. Its mission is to provide a media outlet that reflects the reality of progressive, alternative politics locally, nationally and globally, filling the voids left by the mainstream media. As a publication of the Thomas Merton Center, the paper reports on the issues of war, poverty, racism and oppression, raising the moral questions involved in the non-violent struggle to bring about a more peaceful and just world. The NewPeople acts as an organizing tool and communiqué for the Thomas Merton Center members and the activist community at large.

Readers are welcome and encouraged to send in submissions relevant to our regional peace and justice community to be published in The NewPeople. The submissions we print typically fall into one of the following categories:

Local Reports (200-800 words) -- Reviews and reports on local actions and events. Stick closer to 600 if you have a photo. If you only have ~200, a photo is strongly encouraged.

Local Upcoming (200-500 words) – Shorter articles on upcoming actions and events. Stick closer to 200 if you have a photo or graphic. Do not send a press release or flyer as your article!

National/Global Action Shorts (200 words) – Social justice-themed shorts focused on events/efforts that take place in the national/global arena (not in Western PA). If your story centers on a local effort but has a national/global connection, still submit it to a "Local" section. Photos strongly encouraged for this section.

Features (1000-2000 words) -- In-depth stories that delve into timely peace and justice issues. Could be local or national/global. Photos strongly encouraged.

Community Commentary (800-1200 words) -- Progressive analysis and commentary on current events written in the first-person. This is the section to focus on personal beliefs and feelings. See below *.

Book/music reviews are encouraged as well and should be between 500-800 words, but please check with us first for space availability if you’re thinking of writing something. Visual art and poetry are also encouraged. E-mail leah@thomasmertoncenter.org for more info.

Letters to the editor should be clearly marked as such, should be between 200-500 words and e-mailed to leah@thomasmertoncenter.org. Letters should be specifically about content in The NewPeople or a short opinion you have about a Thomas Merton Center event or activity. If you have thoughts to share about a general peace and justice issue, please submit an opinion/commentary piece instead, as a longer article including more background information is often more effective in getting your point across and usually necessary to state your case.

Event listings should be clearly marked as such and should include title, date, time, location and contact information and be e-mailed to info@thomasmertoncenter.org.  Event listings are published in the Social Action Calendar. Both event listings and letters to the editor can be mailed to the address below if you don't use e-mail.

* The members of The NewPeople Collective believe that all writing is subjective and therefore attempt to report issues from a perspective not typically covered by corporate, mainstream media that is often censored by economic/political constraints. This sometimes causes confusion as to what is considered "news" and what is considered "commentary." If your article centers on your beliefs and emotions, and attempts to provide a personal analysis, submit it as a commentary piece. If your article centers on reporting information that is often left out of mainstream media, submit it as a local or national/global piece.  

We highly encourage you to include non-copyrighted photos with your submission, as visuals often enhance the impact of your article. If you do not have a camera or scanner, please contact us and we’ll try to work something out.

Please DO NOT send press releases or flyers in lieu of an article. Only send a press release if you are merely trying to alert us of an event.

We are unable to offer financial (or any other) compensation for submission.

The NewPeople is published on the first of each month. If you would like to submit an article, the deadline is the 15th of the previous month (for example, April 15th for the May issue). However, we encourage you to let us know as early as possible if you’re planning on submitting something, as we create the upcoming issue content list at the very beginning of the month.

Articles can be emailed to leah@thomasmertoncenter.org, mailed to the Thomas Merton Center (c/o The NewPeople, 5125 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15224, or dropped off during our regular business hours (M-F 9-5). However, we strongly encourage you to send them electronically so we do not have to retype them.

The NewPeople Collective meets at the very beginning of the month to discuss coverage and content of the upcoming issue. If you’d like to join the collective, e-mail Marie or call 412-361-3022 to discuss the commitment that entails.