The Sentinel welcomes letters, local event submissions, and articles written by community members about local issues/topics related to Citrus Heights. Submissions by politicians, political campaigns or candidates will not typically be published, unless addressing a specific issue of local concern.
Submissions from the same writer are currently limited to once per month. Please include contact information and refer to the following guidelines before making a submission:
Letters to the Editor: (100 to 250 words) Our policy is to publish every letter that is received, as long as it is a minimum of 100 words in length and addresses a local news story published by The Sentinel in the past 60 days. Facts referenced must be documented with links to reputable sources. Letters must include the author’s full name and primary city of residence. Submissions can be made online up to once per month per author.
Obituaries: (100 to 2,000 words) As a free service to family members who have lost a loved one, obituaries of Citrus Heights residents or former residents are eligible to be published on The Sentinel’s website at no cost, as long as they are submitted in publish-ready format (ie: readable, accurate, and with proper grammar). Please indicate with your submission whether you have a photo to accompany the obituary.
Submitting a guest column or opinion piece: (400 to 900 words) Opinion pieces may be submitted about any local issue or topic directly affecting residents or businesses in Citrus Heights, regardless of viewpoint. Authors are not held to the conflict-of-interest standards of a typical news article, with writers free to express their opinions on timely local issues. Opinion pieces and columns must be well-written and include sources cited for any facts referenced. A headshot and 1-2 sentence bio are required. (An email response will be sent to you confirming receipt and requesting the headshot, following your submission).
*Scroll below form to see more submission guidelines for opinion pieces and articles.
*NOTE: By submitting an article, opinion piece, or letter to the editor, you affirm to be the author or copyright holder of said work and authorize The Sentinel to publish the content, with minor editing, on its website. All submissions may be edited by The Sentinel for length, clarity, grammar, or inappropriate/irrelevant content.
Submitting a press release: Submitting a press release about a local event is a great way to get a potential story published on The Sentinel about your recent or upcoming event. Events that are more than one week old will typically not be covered, due to our commitment to timely reporting. For an example of what information to include in a press release, see article: http://www.inc.com/guides/
Submitting a news article: (300 to 700 words)
News articles written by Citrus Heights residents about local events and recent news are also considered for publication, but must meet more strict guidelines to ensure professional standards are met:
- The article must be well-written and focus on a newsworthy topic directly related to Citrus Heights.
- News article submissions are held to ethical standards stated in the Society of Professional Journalists code: see http://www.spj.org/
ethicscode.asp - Avoid conflicts of interest: The author of the article must be reasonably independent from the topic or organization being reported on. (For example: we would not publish a word-for-word article about an event written by its sponsor, or an article about an organization by a director, employee, owner, or funder of the organization. Such submissions should be made instead as a press release.)
- The author should strive to demonstrate a commitment to objectivity and facts, rather than opinions.