Preamble

Northstowe News is funded primarily by advertising. There are various grants and donations that we can also receive from, although many such schemes only cover startup expenses and not ongoing costs. Therefore we do need to ensure that the magazine has roughly a balanced budget to remain viable, and so having businesses pay to get their names and images into over 1000 printed and delivered copies will, for the foreseeable future, remain the most scalable way to cover the considerable costs of physically printing and distributing a magazine.

With that in mind we need to make sure that advertising remains attractive to businesses, and that their payment does not have the appearance of being undermined by the content in the rest of the magazine.

However at the same time, we consider that Northstowe News has an important role to play in the development of community in this fledgling town, and the reality is that many events and amenities are available only from commercial operators. This policy aims to build community here by helping community-based events be successful, and improve the amenities available to us by proving that business in Northstowe is viable.

Northstowe News Editorial and Advertising Policy

No submitted text is guaranteed to be published. All decisions are subject to space and other editorial constraints. The editorial team’s decision is final.

We will consider articles (between 200-300 words approx.) plus photographs and logos, describing an event or service by a commercial operator only if at least SIX of the below criteria apply.

We will consider entries in lists of events, or update paragraphs (20-40 words approx.) consisting only of text without photos or logos, describing an event or service by a commercial operator only if at least THREE of the below criteria apply.

We will print company names in article texts if they are relevant to the subject being discussed, e.g. in a list of donors to a charity campaign.

Submissions about other commercial activity, not qualifying under the conditions above, will be considered advertising and will only be printed if space is arranged and paid for through the appropriate channel.

Criteria

• The majority of features of this service or event can be experienced by the public at no cost.

THIS POINT COUNTS DOUBLE.

• A significant portion of monies raised from the activity will be directed to charitable causes
• The company has not been featured in any similar article for a period of 1 year
• The service or event provides something that is not otherwise available in Northstowe.
• The service or event is primarily experienced in groups, alongside other members of the community outside a participant’s normal group of friends or family.
• Participants in the event will gain a wellness, health or fitness benefit.
• The service or event is targeted towards youth, parents of young children, or a vulnerable group.
• The article itself would be of interest to general readers, whether they participate in the event or service or not.
• Regular events, or availability of the service, occur on an irregular or difficult to remember schedule. ¹

¹ Rationale: if Northstowe News can contain information that people would want to look up, it will encourage people to keep the magazine around after reading it, and that’s only good for our visibility and that of all the other advertisers.