THE LINEWAITERS’ GAZETTE
The Linewaiters’ Gazette publishes new content every three weeks by the Park Slope Food Coop, Inc., 782 Union Street, Brooklyn, New York 11215, 718-622-0560.
Opinions expressed here may be solely the views of the writer.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Park Slope Food Coop members can contribute to the Gazette in one of two ways: letters to the editor and voluntary articles. (See deadline dates at the bottom of this page.)
The Gazette welcomes Coop-related articles and letters from members that follow the published guidelines and policies.
All submissions must include author’s name, phone number and e-mail address, conform to the following guidelines and to the Fairness, Anonymity and Respect policies. Editors will reject letters and articles that do not follow the guidelines or policies.
For topics that generate a large number of submissions serially or continuously over many issues, editors will use discretion to select a small number of representative submissions (whether letters or voluntary articles).
LETTERS AND ARTICLES SUBMISSION POLICIES
Letters must be the opinion of the letter-writer and can contain no more than 15% non-original writing.
All submissions must be written by the writer. Letters or articles that are form letters, chain letters, template letters or letters prepared by someone other than the submitting member will be rejected.
Letters and articles must adhere to the Fairness, Anonymity and Respect policies. They cannot be hateful, needlessly inflammatory, discriminatory libelous, personal attacks or make unsubstantiated claims or accusations or be contrary to the values of the Coop as expressed in our mission statement.
The Gazette will not knowingly publish letters or articles that are hateful, racist, sexist, otherwise discriminatory, inflammatory or needlessly provocative.
All submissions must be legible, intelligible, civil, well and concisely written with accurate, attributed, easily verifiable statements of facts separated from opinions.
Letter and article writers are limited to one letter or article per issue.
Editor-Writer Guidelines: All submissions will be reviewed. Those that do not abide Gazette policies will be rejected. Writers are responsible for the factual content of their stories. Editors may lightly copy edit letters to conform to the Gazette style guide (AP style). Editors will not revise or suggest improvements for grammar; writers are responsible for writing intelligible prose. Letters and articles must contain a salutation (“To the Editor”) and a suggested title. Letters or articles without a title will be given one by an editor.
A voluntary article is held to a higher standard than a letter and must meet at least the following criteria: it must analyze the topic it is discussing; it must present accurate, verifiable corroboration for factual assertions; it can criticize but not attack Coop practices and personnel; if critical it must present positive solutions; it cannot be solely or mainly opinion. It must strive to make a positive contribution to the understanding of the reader on a topic. If an article is substantially opinion, it must be shortened to 300 words or less and resubmitted as a letter to the editor for possible publishing in a future issue. Editors will reject articles that are essentially just advertisements for member businesses, those of family and friends of members, solely expressions of opinion or that do not follow the guidelines and policies.
FAIRNESS, ANONYMITY AND RESPECT POLICIES
In order to provide fair, comprehensive, factual coverage:
Fairness
1. The Gazette will not publish hearsay—that is, allegations not based on the author’s first-hand observation.
2. Accusations will not be published. Naming of Coop members in polemical letters and articles will lead to the letter being rejected. Writers must address ideas.
3. Submissions that make substantive accusations against specific individuals necessary to make the point of the submission and within the Fairness, Anonymity and Respect policies will be shared with those named to enable them to write a response, and both submissions and response will be published simultaneously. This means that the original submission may not appear until the issue after the one for which it was submitted.
Anonymity
Unattributed letters will not be published unless the Gazette knows the identity of the writer, and therefore must be signed when submitted (giving phone number). Such letters will be published only where a compelling reason is given to the editor as to why public identification of the writer would impose an unfair burden of embarrassment or difficulty. Such letters must relate to Coop issues and avoid any non-constructive, non-cooperative language.
Respect
Submissions to the Gazette must not be hateful, racist, sexist, otherwise discriminatory, inflammatory, or needlessly provocative. They may not be personally derogatory or insulting, even when strongly criticizing an individual member’s actions.
The Gazette is a collaboration among Coop members. When submitting, please consider the impact of your words on the writers, editors and production staff who use our limited workslot time to try to produce an informative and cooperative publication that reflects the values of our Coop community.
HOW TO SUBMIT
All submissions should be emailed to GazetteSubmissions@psfc.coop. Please include your name, member number and best email address and phone number to reach you.
WORD LIMITS
Letters: Maximum 300 words.
Voluntary articles: Maximum 500 words.
SUBMISSION DEADLINES*
(*Please note submission dates for letters and articles are different.)
Letter deadlines:
For the Aug 15th issue, submissions are due on July 28 at 12pm.
For the Sep 5th issue, submissions are due on Aug 18 at 12pm.
For the Sep 26 issue, submissions are due on Sep 8 at 12pm.
For the Oct 17 issue, submissions are due on Sep 29 at 12pm.
For the Nov 7 issue, submissions are due on Oct 20 at 12pm.
Voluntary article deadlines:
For the Aug 15th issue, submissions are due on July 24 at 12pm.
For the Sep 5th issue, submissions are due on Aug 14 at 12pm.
For the Sep 26 issue, submissions are due on Sep 4 at 12pm.
For the Oct 17 issue, submissions are due on Sep 25 at 12pm.
For the Nov 7 issue, submissions are due on Oct 16 at 12pm.
JOIN THE GAZETTE
Are you interested in fulfilling your Coop work credit by writing for the Linewaiters’ Gazette? We have openings from time to time, and keep appropriate applications on file. Send a letter, résumé and work samples to GazetteSubmissions@psfc.coop.
The Gazette looks for writers who can generate crisp, clean, compelling copy. For those interested who do not have a background in journalism or relevant clips, consider writing a voluntary article as described above.
For members interested in joining the Gazette art or production staff, please send a letter, résumé and work samples. Prerequisite: Must be a member at least six months before joining the Gazette.