Given that the arts are all about creativity, I’m accustomed to receiving story pitches that don’t conform to standard press release form. That said, there are some guidelines that will help assure that you catch my attention if you’ve got an event or story idea that fits my beat.
1. Please try to make sure that the relevance of your pitch to what I cover is clear in whatever communication you provide to me. That means, for example, that if your band is coming to Missoula, you include the date and location where you’ll be playing.
2. Deadline for submissions to the printed Missoulian Entertainer calendar is Monday noon, prior to Friday publication. That said, if you want to get coverage of your event beyond a simple calendar listing, the basic guideline is: Send me info early and often. Two weeks prior to when you want it published is about ideal…However, there’s no sense in waiting if you have info early; I try to keep careful track of event information even when I receive it six months in advance. My system isn’t perfect, so don’t hesitate to check back if you don’t hear from me. Note that our general rule is that we publish stories based on the date of the event or opening night, with events opening Friday through Thursday included in that week’s Entertainer. Deadline for the monthly Entertainer calendar (which comes out on the first Thursday of every month) is the 15th of the preceding month.
3. Emailed communication is most likely to be filed and published correctly, since we can just cut-and-paste your event details into our system. I can be emailed at jnickell (at) missoulian (dot) com. Note that our calendar is produced by a different person, so it’s always a good idea to cc that address, which is entertainer (at) missoulian (dot) com. Follow-up emails or calls never hurt; I’m at (406) 523-5358. If you have something in hard-copy that you want to send via snailmail, it can be sent to Joe Nickell, Missoulian, 500 S. Higgins Ave., Missoula, MT 59802.
4. They say a picture is worth 1,000 words; but alas, a 22kb postage-stamp-sized photo isn’t worth diddly when it comes to printing in the newspaper. Images of your paintings, production photos, and other artwork need to be sufficiently high-resolution if we’re going to print them. As a general rule of thumb, any jpg file sent for publication should be upwards of 250kb. The bigger the better. That said, if you send a particularly large file to me, you might want to follow up with a separate email asking if I received it; our email system has been known to eat big files without notice.
5. If you want coverage for your band, please either invite me to a practice or gig; or provide me with some link or download of some musical samples.
6. A common point of confusion — and understandably so — revolves around our online events calendar system. As of now, that is a self-serve system where you enter your information manually, separately from anything submitted for print; items submitted for print still need to be sent to us via one of the other means listed in #2, above. I know, I know! — it’s absurd. But I have no control over it. Sorry. Here’s the link to the page where you can submit your event to the online calendar.
7. Due to budget constraints, the Missoulian is currently unable to feed or house your carrier pigeons. Also, eagles are known to frequent this section of the Clark Fork River, and they like to eat pigeons and other fowl. Please choose another method of sending your information.
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Lastly, some things that most likely won’t result in coverage of your event or story:
1. I’m overwhelmed with Facebook Event spam, to the point that I no longer am able to sort through all those invitations to find the ones that are actually relevant to my life or work. Please don’t assume that just because you invited me on Facebook, I know about your event.
2. As I mentioned above, the Missoulian’s online calendar system is currently managed completely separately from our paper system. I do not see events that are entered into that system. So unfortunately, for now at least, if you want me to know about it, you’ll still need to reach out to me directly.
3. It’s surprising how many people call to pitch a story to me, but don’t leave their phone number. I don’t have caller ID at my desk, so I have no way to respond to those people. Don’t forget to leave me your digits if you call!
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