The Ithaca Community News (ICN) is a non-profit news service bringing alternative news and views from Ithaca, NY to readers all over the world. ICN is also a weekly email newsletter with more than 8,000 subscribers.

Paul Glover founded ICN in 2000 and published it for five years before handing the reins to Elizabeth Field, a freelance journalist, in November, 2005.

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Writer's Guidelines

ICN welcomes news tips and ideas, as well as submissions from local freelance journalists. Before submitting your story or idea, please read these guidelines. Unsolicited submissions may not be read or used, and are liable to editing to meet these guidelines. Thank you.

ICN plans to publish 2-4 short, newsy articles (300-500 words max) with each new issue of the newsletter. We will occasionally publish exposes of larger issues- please query these ideas first.

All news stories concern at least one of the following:

All stories focus on local issues, people and/or events, and are written in the third person.

ICN does NOT publish poetry, fiction, personal essays, or academic works such as research papers. Currently, we do not accept guest opinion pieces.

ICN DOES publish profiles of local artists, activists, alternative business leaders and health care practitioners, as well as homeless people, the downtrodden, or others on the fringe of society. To be considered for a profile piece, please submit a brief paragraph outlining your (or your subject's) achievements and why you think a profile of this person should go in ICN. You must be willing to provide a photo for the web site. Profiles are 500 words maximum.

ICN news stories need to focus on timely issues.

ICN follows the usage and style guidelines in the Chicago Manual of Style.

ICN will fact check your information. Please provide names, email and phone numbers of your sources to Elizabeth Field.

If you want to submit a piece on behalf of your job, non-profit organization, or other advocacy work, that's fine. Please still follow these guidelines and note that we will not pay for advocacy submitted on behalf of another organization. These pieces will be listed as "guest columns."

Compensation for short pieces (300-500 words) is $25, until we can afford to pay more. There is no kill fee. Compensation for longer pieces will be negotiated on a case by case basis, and dependent upon writer's experience. Please remember that ICN is a non-profit news service working on a shoestring budget, and that we do value your time and energy. Elizabeth devoted five years of her life to freelance writing.

To submit a news tip to ICN, please contact Elizabeth Field, editor and publisher, via the contact form on this website. She will do her best to get back to you in a timely manner.

To submit a story, please query your idea first. ICN prefers to work with established and experienced journalists.

Thank you for your time and attention to these important details.

Elizabeth Field, Editor and Publisher, Ithaca Community News