Being the Media

Writing an article for indymedia needn’t be difficult. It doesn’t need to be overly long or written like a professional journalist, just so long as you get the story across clearly.

Here’s a brief checklist for a well written article which you may find useful:

• WHAT happened?
• WHERE and
• WHEN did it happen?
• WHO did it?
• WHY did it happen? and
• HOW?

Is your report easy to read?¶

Look at your article from a reader’s point of view, as if you had never seen it before. Readers might be put off by a long piece of text that runs all together with no breaks so split it up into paragraphs. It’s often useful to ask someone you know to read it and give you feedback.

Have you explained the background?¶

Don’t assume that your reader knows about the subject. All good reports should give basic background information. Add a link to further background information or to relevant websites if you think this would be helpful.

Have you checked the spelling and grammar in your report?¶

No matter how great your report, it can look really bad if it’s full of spelling and grammatical errors. Most wordprocessors have spelling and grammar checkers or, better still, ask someone else to check it for you.

Does your report meet the editorial guidelines?¶

Each Indymedia site has a prominent link on their front page to their editorial guidelines. If your report doesn’t meet the guidelines, then there’s a strong possibility that it will be hidden. Make sure you take the time to read through these.