News Guidelines for Members

[VinWarrior]

Hello there, thanks for visiting this thread. Are you interested in writing News for the community, but don't have such a grip on certain guidelines for Front Page worthy articles? Fear not, for I have developed for you a small set of guidelines for you to follow if you want to create amazing content level with our own News Group! 

 

• The article should feature an appropriate image to coincide with the topic of the article. The image should be hosted on the forum's own Gallery as off-site material copied and pasted can be tamped with or removed, doing this prevents inappropriate or missing content on the article. The easiest format to do this is to save the image unto your own computer or device, and upload it using the "Attach Files" mechanism below.
• Article should be sourced in a Site Name/[direct link] format, basically meaning if you found your article on IGN, you would source it as 'IGN.com' rather then just IGN or another title. The link must go to wherever you found the article though, so it should link to the actual piece rather than just IGN's front page.
• Primary Sources are usually the best to use, as they are more direct and have more authenticity. Let's say you post a 343i Job Listing, you must link to the actual listing, instead of Polygon reporting on the listing. This helps News Group members authenticate the article to make sure it isn't a hoax before promoting it.
• An opening sentence should hook the reader in and have them gripped to continue. It doesn't need to be long, but it should have the reader invested for the whole article, like a sort of teaser. It assists in the flow of the article as well, and looks generally neater and cleaner. Rhetorical questions aren't the best method, so try to avoid these.
• Personal opinions can never filter into a full fledged News piece. Doing an article on Halo 5 getting a 10/10 from IGN is fine, saying that Halo 5 is perfect or the complete opposite isn't. This is a news piece after all, it's just to inform, not to debate. 
• Copy/Pasting a whole article, some of an article, or even a sentence of an article isn't allowed, and could result in serious punishments if done. The piece MUST be original, your own work. 
• The usual word level is 300-500, however, if the article can perform fine with less or more, then this shouldn't matter, just don't make it tremendously short or long, and try to aim for the word limit set above.
• Font sizes and fonts should usually stay default, however, using colours like cyan, orange, and sometimes yellow is perfectly fine. 
• Articles should have your own distinct style and taste to them, don't attempt to be like BeckoningZebra1, or Adam91, or Edward Kenway. You are you, if you use a certain vocabulary, or style, then use it, it's fine to be distinct and unique when it comes to writing. It isn't that the three mentioned above are not good writers, they are, but that is because they have their own way of writing. It doesn't matter how you consider your style, it's yours, it's special, you need to utilize it. 
• Try to end on a question, and encourage liking and commenting on the article, as well as discussing it below, usually a question does the trick to promote (civil) debate and discussion in the comments area. 

That should cover it, any suggestions or questions, ask away below, thanks for reading ladies and gentlemen, and I hope this assists some fresh writers out there in starting up!

[Unease Peanut]

Good to see that I already do this (mostly)

I'm on the right track

[Jack Of Harts]

Awesome post, Vin. If I ever post news, I'll definitely look over this thread

[ShockGazm]

I think I may be good at this. I used to post news for an old gaming community of mine a few years back, I'd like to think I spent good time on making it look good (But, it has been a while but I think I still have what it takes). Of course, I can't try out now because I have life things to take care of but in future I hope to do this or at least try it out.

 

As for the question. I presume you can't join the team right off the bat, so is there a set amount of news thread you have to make to then be able to join the News Group? Of course depending on if those news threads have the quality the News Group is looking for.

[BeckoningZebra1]

I think I may be good at this. I used to post news for an old gaming community of mine a few years back, I'd like to think I spent good time on making it look good (But, it has been a while but I think I still have what it takes). Of course, I can't try out now because I have life things to take care of but in future I hope to do this or at least try it out.

 

As for the question. I presume you can't join the team right off the bat, so is there a set amount of news thread you have to make to then be able to join the News Group? Of course depending on if those news threads have the quality the News Group is looking for.

 

It's mostly a matter of demand, if the News Group seems to be having issues putting News on the front page, we need more writers. If the News Group is having issues posting the same News articles, we have too many writers. If neither of these issues exist, the News Group is right where it needs to be. At the current time, the News Group is not having any of these issues.

 

That being said, if News Group were to need more writers, Twam and RedStarRocket91 would select the best candidate based off, the quality of the news articles the member creates, the dependability of the member to be on often enough to post the news, and the maturity of the member in the Shoutbox and discussions. 

[Coldfreeze]

Good to see that I already do this (mostly)

I'm on the right track

Now just learn some proper English and you'll be allright.

[Buns]

 and the maturity of the member in the Shoutbox and discussions. 

Then why are you in News?

 

Awesome post EK hopefully this motivates member to write up some awesome articles!!!

[Jane158]

Helpful information for me.