Submission Guidelines

Here at Spotlight News Hampton Roads, we pride ourselves on being a non-profit, local news website by the Hampton Roads community, for the Hampton Roads community.

If you are looking to submit content for our website, please consider the following:

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All content should in some way impact the Hampton Roads community. This could be an event in this area, information about a company that serves this area, op-eds about an issue that is important to our community (or that you think should be), etc. 

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Submission Guidelines:

• Our articles range from 500-1500 words. We are lucky not to have to deal with paper layouts. You don't need to pad your article to make it fit, and you also shouldn't need to mince words just for space. 

• We need at least one image to go with your article or press release. Images should be submitted in .jpg, .jpeg, or .png format. 

• Our editor believes in making sure that your voice is heard and understood. Though we reserve the right to edit submissions prior to publication, the goal of our editing team is to work with you to make sure that everything you are trying to say will be understood, and that your content is as professional and appropriate sounding as possible before publishing. 

• We will not post any content with inflammatory or derogatory speech. We will also remove any comments which include such speech, and reserve the right to remove any users who may continue to post such content. Keep it civil, friends. 

• Not a journalist, but a Hampton Roads writer or poet looking to expand your published portfolio? Reach out- we also publish selections of work from Hampton Roads artists! We believe that creativity is a key part of any community.

 

Please keep in mind: Publication of an event, op-ed, or other article does not necessarily imply that Spotlight is advocating for or supporting the idea/ event/ company/ etc. As a non-profit news website, we try our best to follow the rules related to keeping our IRS 501(c)3 status. To that extent, we do not publish or share candidate's fundraising information, etc. We are open to accepting op-eds about community issues from all members of the community, however, and do our best to share information related to elected officials town halls and other educational and informative events as we find out about them. 

• "Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity." -The Restriction of Political Campaign Intervention by Section 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Organizations​

• "Certain activities or expenditures may not be prohibited depending on the facts and circumstances.  For example, certain voter education activities (including presenting public forums and publishing voter education guides) conducted in a non-partisan manner do not constitute prohibited political campaign activity. In addition, other activities intended to encourage people to participate in the electoral process, such as voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, would not be prohibited political campaign activity if conducted in a non-partisan manner." -The Restriction of Political Campaign Intervention by Section 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Organizations

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Remember, all of our writers, editors, and staff are currently community volunteers. We thank you in advance for your patience, as everyone who works to keep this website and company running has at least one paid day job!