Submitting news and feature ideas
Do you know of an interesting LAU person, achievement or initiative that might be considered for publication in the news section of the university website? Here you’ll find all the necessary steps and tips to share your story ideas with the Strategic Communications Office.
What is posted?
Stratcom is primarily interested in publishing:
- News about research projects, teaching methods, awards and achievements of LAU faculty, students, staff and alumni.
- LAU-related stories of human interest and accomplishments of university-wide, national, regional or international scope that might appeal to a general audience.
- Articles about special programs or events organized by LAU schools, departments, programs, institutes, centers, offices.
- Interviews and first-person reports of LAU people who stand out as well as opinion pieces written about the university or by LAU experts.
What is not posted?
We do not publish:
- Stories that are not related to LAU units or people.
- News of personal nature.
- Stories that would be better highlighted in a school or departmental website because they are of interest only to a segment of the internal community.
- Articles that advocate a particular political view or include religious, social, racial and other biases. This would not exclude reporting of on-campus events about political issues.
- Content that does not conform to our editorial standards per the LAU Editorial Style Guide (PDF).
Final decisions related to news content and posting dates are at the discretion of Stratcom. Approval of content before publication by parties outside Stratcom is not allowed.
How and when to submit a story idea?
Complete this online form to send us a story idea. For coverage of special events or time-sensitive stories, please submit your request at least one week prior to the event or the relevant date in order to be considered for inclusion in the news website. Please make sure your submissions are concise, clear, accurate, complete and timely. Entries with incomplete information may be disregarded or processed late.
What happens next?
- The Stratcom editorial team regularly reviews all story ideas you submit to us.
- A writer or editor from our department may contact you to ask for more details, discuss options and agree on future steps. We highly value your input and cooperation.
- Our writers and editors will work with you to acquire all the required information and images as quickly as possible, to be able to post news stories on a timely manner. We depend on your help in this regard. Features, profiles and longer pieces usually take longer to develop and post. Priority is given to items of university-wide, national or international significance.
- Once a story has been posted, only corrections of factual errors can be made.
- Unless otherwise requested, events are also posted in the online calendar of events.
How and when to submit photos?
We rely on you to provide photos and captions for use in news stories. If a story idea you submitted via the online form is selected for publication, we will contact you to ask for the photos, which should be submitted following the below guidelines:
- Please ensure that all photographs are saved in high resolution to ensure quality. All photos should be at least 3 megapixels (roughly 2000 pixels on the longer side).
- If your photographer can provide all images in RAW and JPEG formats, it would be ideal. Otherwise, JPEGs saved with the minimum amount of compression are preferred.
- Make sure to submit pictures that are usable. Shots must be in focus, well illuminated, with clearly identifiable subjects, without reflections or date stamps, etc.
- Please submit large files on DVD/CD to the web editor.
- When possible, provide us with a number of images to choose from.
- Please provide us with captions and include correct spellings of complete names of people you wish to mention in the photo. Make sure you include courtesy titles, full names, affiliations.
- If your photos are of an event, include the date(s) and place of the event depicted.
Should you have any questions or require additional information, please feel free to email the web editor.