How to submit letters, columns for St. Cloud Times opinion section

St. Cloud Times staff

How can I submit a letter to the editor?

The St. Cloud Times welcomes letters of 300 words or fewer on any subject. Matters of local interest are strongly preferred and given priority. Authors must be named and provide their city of residence. We do not publish letters that:

  • Are submitted by authors outside our coverage area

  • Include personal attacks, unsubstantiated statements of fact, or are purely promotional in nature

  • Are submitted by a third party, such as a public relations agency

  • Have been submitted for publication elsewhere

  • Do not name a person as the author

  • Are submitted in any form other than e-mail

  • Are, by the editor's best judgment, otherwise not fit for publication

Letters must include:

  • Writer's full name

  • Address, city and ZIP code

  • Daytime phone number for verification. Only name and city of residence will be printed.

How to submit a guest column

The St. Cloud Times welcomes guest columns addressing local political and social issues.

General guidelines include:

  • Columns should be no more than 600 words.

  • Anonymous columns are never published.

  • Stick to a single topic and avoid personal attacks.

  • We reserve the right to edit and republish (including electronically) all columns.

  • We do not accept columns that have been submitted for publication elsewhere.

Letters and guest columns will be edited for clarity, grammar and length. No more than one letter to the editor or guest column (either one or the other) from a contributor will be published in a 30-day period. The St. Cloud Times has final say in publication decisions regarding submissions. Other limitations listed under letters to the editor, above, apply to guest columns as well.

How long can letters to the editor or guest columns be?

Letters to the editor may not exceed 300 words. Guest columns must be a maximum of 600 words. Letters and columns that exceed these limits may be returned to the author with a request to shorten or may simply not be published.

Does the St. Cloud Times edit letters to the editor or guest columns?

The St. Cloud Times reserves the right to edit letters to the editor or guest columns for clarity and AP Style, as well as to fact-check them and cut them to fit available space in the print edition. Writers must state clear opinions or points of view and support them in their submissions. Writers are highly encouraged to provide source links supporting claims pertaining to events, statements, quotes and data that appear in their writings. The St. Cloud Times reserves the right to remove information that cannot be independently verified.

How does the St. Cloud Times choose letters to the editor to publish?

The St. Cloud Times makes its best effort to publish every letter to the editor and guest column that follows this policy on a first-come, first-served basis. However, the submission of a letter or column does not guarantee its publication. If a submission requires lengthy fact-checking or otherwise fails to meet standards, it will not be published.

How often does the St. Cloud Times publish letters or guest columns from the same person?

The St. Cloud Times limits submissions of any kind to once a month for each reader.

How do I submit a letter or guest column?

All submissions can be submitted to stc-letters@stcloud.gannett.com. Include your name, address and telephone number for verification.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: How to submit letters, commentary to the St. Cloud Times

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