Submitting news, announcements, letters,pictures, etc.
The best way to submit news announcements or letters to The Ridgefield Press is via e-mail. You may simply type your words into a message, or attach a text file, a rich text file (RTF), or a Microsoft Word document to a message. (Please do not send WordPerfect documents.) Photos may be sent in JPEG format.
All news, letters, columns, calendar items, etc., should be sent to newsroom@acorn-online.com,
except sports and out-of-town arts events (
see below).
The deadline for submitting most news releases
is one week in advance of expected publication date. Submissions may also be dropped off at our office, at 16 Bailey Avenue, right behind town hall (there's a mail slot beside the door for after-hours submissions), or by mail to Box 1019, Ridgefield CT 06877.
We do not accept faxed submissions.
Please note: There is
no charge or fee for any of the announcements listed below. We consider this
news.
For more information, click on the links below.
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Letters to the Editors
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General news
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Sports
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Arts and entertainment
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Student news
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Graduations
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Birth Announcements
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Weddings & Engagements
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Obituaries
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Business News
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News of People
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Columns
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Pictures
Letters to The Ridgefield Press must reach us by 4 p.m. Monday to be considered for that Thursday's edition. Letters may be up to 300 words long -- shorter is better; brief letters stand a better chance than long ones of being published right away. Letters must include the name, address and daytime phone number of the sender. We will withhold signatures only in rare cases, but never when letters are critical of individuals. Letters may be submitted as e-mails to newsroom@acorn-online.com or they may be posted (typed and double-spaced or very neatly hand-printed), to Box 1019 Ridgefield CT 06877. We do not accept faxed letters. We publish letters only from residents, former residents or people who work in the town. (Note:
Giving Thanks submissions are considered the same as letters to the editors, and may be submitted by out-of-town writers if they deal with a Ridgefield subject.)
News releases about coming Ridgefield events, club activities, school happenings, scouts, etc. should reach us at least one week in advance of the issue in which you would like it published. For tips on submitting all kinds of news releases, see our
Guide for Publicity Writers (which is also available in hard copy from our office).
All sports news, including Little League, soccer, and football game results, as well as coming events, should be sent to the sports editor at sports@acorn-online.com
News of arts and entertainment events occurring in our area (Fairfield and Westchester Counties, and southern Litchfield County) should be sent to the arts editor at arts@acorn-online.com. This news will appear, at least as a calendar listing, in Arts & Leisure, a separate section that is carried by all eight of our newspapers. Events occurring in Ridgefield should be sent to
both the arts editor and the news editor (newsroom@acorn-online.com).
We publish a Student News column, usually weekly, that contains reports of accomplishments of individual students in college, prep schools or public school. In the case of college news, please let us know whether the student is a Ridgefield High School graduate, the year of graduation, and any special activities the student maybe involved in. In all cases, also include the parents' names and address. (
See also Graduates below.)
Most colleges and prep schools provide little information about graduates. We like to have stories that describe the students' backgrounds, accomplishments and plans. Just click here to find out how to do it.
The Ridgefield Press publishes birth announcements that include, if the parents wish, a photo of the baby. If you wish to write up an announcement now and submit it electronically, use this format.
Announcements can include the names of grandparents and great-grandparents. You may attach a JPEG photo (see Pictures below) to the message. We publish birth announcements for parents who live here or who formerly lived here, or who work here.
Wedding and engagement announcements are news stories, published without charge. The biggest problem we run into is the quality of pictures submitted with announcements. Submit a
close-up shot that is
clear, sharp, and bright. Either prints or e-mailed JPEG files are fine. You should write your own announcement, following the general example linked below, and submit it as a Word, text, or RTF attachment, or snailmail a printed copy to our office, Box 1019, Ridgefield, 06877. Here's an example of a typical engagement or wedding announcement.
Obituaries in The Ridgefield Press are also news stories, published at no charge. For information on obituaries, click here.
We welcome news of Ridgefield businesses, or people from Ridgefield who work in businesses out of town. Unfortunately, we cannot publish news of businesses whose only connection with town is the fact that they have customers here. There are too many of those and too little space in our paper. Send business news to newsroom@acorn-online.com. Photos are also welcome.
The Press publishes a column, usually weekly, that contains news of people in social, artistic, military, hobby, or other settings that do not fit into the categories of Business News or Student News. This could include an artist's exhibit, a humanitarian award, an appointment to a college board of trustees, entrance into the military or a military promotion, participation in charitable event, unusual travels, speaking engagements, awards and other non-business recognitions. Photos are welcome.
Hundreds of writers each year offer us columns. Alas, because we are very local newspapers, we do not even consider unsolicited columns unless they are written by people who live in Ridgefield. Op-ed submissions from Ridgefielders are welcome, but only on local topics. We do not publish canned columns on financial investments, real estate, insurance, health, interior decorating, lifestyles, astrology, etc. We will consider locally written columns on some of those topics if the writers are Ridgefielders, use local subjects and do not employ the column to promote their own business. To inquire further about a
local column, e-mail newsroom@acorn-online.com with your proposal.
We welcome both print and digital pictures. Either kind must be sharp, clear, well-exposed. With print pictures, either color or black-and-white is fine. Slides are acceptable. With digital images, submit JPEG format files, and shoot or scan them at a resolution of at least 150 dpi. People in the pictures should be identified with accompanying captions. Please avoid sending pictures of large numbers of people --20 or more -- because these rarely get published. The best pictures are of one to four people, taken close-up. For tips on taking good photos, see our
Guide for Publicity Writers
under "About Photos."
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