Anytime there’s a change, there’s bound to be confusion. And that’s been the case for some of our regular news contributors since we switched to mail delivery.

Our copy deadlines have remained pretty much the same, as have our production deadlines. But those who send in news items for publication in our newspaper need to remember one crucial element over which we have no control: the postal system, and when its customers receive their mail each day.

Some people are in the habit of submitting news the day before they want it to be in the paper. This is a dangerous precedent, because if they haven’t taken into account when most subscribers might get their papers, it’s likely their news item won’t be seen until it’s too late.

Let’s say John Brown on Thursday at 11 a.m. submits a notice about a fundraiser bean dinner set for Friday at 6 p.m. John’s figuring if we publish the announcement in Friday’s paper, everyone will see it in time to attend. But that’s not necessarily so. Rack readers, who may get their newspapers early in the morning, may indeed see the notice in time to make the dinner. On the other hand, home subscribers who get their mail at 3 p.m. may only read the notice after they’ve made other plans for the evening – or, they may not even read it until they get home from work at 6 p.m. The situation is worse if John’s bean dinner is at noon Friday. Practically no one will be attending unless John has also used word-of-mouth to disseminate his information. And although we can’t publish an item we don’t have, many readers assume we’ve just dropped the ball and failed to publish the material until it’s too late.

The key thing to remember: If you have a function planned for a given day, it needs to appear in the paper no later than the day BEFORE the event. That means if your event is Friday, you’ll need to turn in the news item Wednesday so it will appear in Thursday’s paper. (If your item needs to be in the Sunday paper, we’ll need it Friday at 11 a.m.)

Along those lines, here are a few other questions you might have, and the answers:

Q: What ARE your deadlines, anyway?

A: If you want an item published in a certain edition, we’ll need it the previous day by 11 a.m. (or Friday at 11 for the Sunday paper). It’s true that we do sometimes publish items we receive after that time, but these are usually staff-written or late-breaking items. If you know about an upcoming event, there’s no reason you shouldn’t make our deadline. (Sports deadlines are somewhat later; see below.)

Q: What’s the best way to submit a news item to you?

A: E-mail it to news@tahlequahdailypress.com. We’d prefer that, instead of attaching your document, you copy your text and paste it into your e-mail field, to avoid word program compatibility issues. You can also drop the typed news item off at our office, 106 W. Second, or if it’s not especially time-sensitive, mail it to Press Newsroom, P.O. Box 888, Tahlequah, Okla. 74465. For a variety of reasons, faxing is not a good choice, but if it’s all you’ve got, our number is (918) 456-2019. Please avoid sending in handwritten items, because we often have trouble deciphering them, which increases the likelihood of error.

Q: What if I have a photo to go with it?

A: If you’ve e-mailed the item, attach the RGB (color) photo as a jpeg (.JPG), using about 170 dpi. Please don’t send photos with huge dpis, as they clog our mail system. “Hard” photos can be delivered to our office with your press release or snail-mailed. DO NOT fax photos! Whatever way you submit a photo, please identify the subject matter, including the FULL names of the people, left to right, front row to back. (Schools are notorious for sending teachers identified only as “Mrs. Brown.” First names, too, please!)

Q: If I turn in a news item, and it’s published with an error in it, can I get it reprinted?

A: It depends on the item, and who made the mistake. If it’s a news brief, we’ll print it again. If it was a wedding, engagement, birth or anniversary announcement (see below) and it was OUR mistake, we’ll reprint it. If the mistake was yours, we’ll also reprint it, but we may have to charge you. For long news items, we cannot guarantee we’ll run them again, but we will run corrections or clarifications when needed. It’s a good idea to double-check all dates, times, locations and name spellings in news items you turn in so you know they’re correct when they get to us.

Q: I’m getting married, and I’d like to get an engagement announcement and wedding announcement in the paper. How do I do that?