Our newsroom cannot see everything. People who live in this community and work in its schools and clinics and shops and offices often know things that we do not. We welcome writing from outside our staff when it adds something real to public conversation. This page explains what we publish and how to send us a piece. It also describes what happens after you do and what we expect from the people who write for us.
Who can contribute
Anyone can send us a pitch or a finished piece. You do not need to be a professional writer or hold a title or a degree. We have published teachers and nurses and farmers and students and retired officials. What we look for is firsthand knowledge or a clear and well argued point of view on something that matters to our readers.
We do not accept contributions written on behalf of a person or organisation by a hidden third party. If a spokesperson or consultant drafts a piece it must say so. Public officials and candidates and employees of political parties may submit pieces but we label their role clearly and we may ask for a response from the other side of the issue.
What we publish
Opinion essays
These are arguments about local or national issues. A good essay takes a position and supports it with facts and evidence. It engages with the strongest objections and does not pretend they do not exist. We publish views we agree with and views we do not. We do not publish views that call for violence or that attack people for who they are.
Personal accounts
These are first person pieces about something you have lived through. Examples include running a small business through a hard year or caring for a relative or navigating a public service. They should be honest and specific. A single true story told well can show readers more than a page of statistics.
Expert commentary
If you have professional knowledge in medicine or law or farming or engineering or education or another field we welcome writing that explains an issue to general readers. Avoid jargon. Tell us how you know what you know.
Letters to the editor
Letters should be short and respond to something we have published or to an issue in the community. We ask for a full name and a town or district. We may shorten letters for length and clarity but we will not change their meaning.
What we do not publish
We decline pieces that fall into these categories:
- Advertising or promotion for a business or a candidate or a cause presented as opinion
- Personal attacks or accusations against named private individuals
- Claims that cannot be supported with facts or that we know to be false
- Material copied from other sources or already published elsewhere
- Pieces that serve mainly to settle a private dispute
- Anonymous submissions unless there is a serious and documented reason
We also decline work that is written by software tools rather than by the person whose name is on it. A guest piece must be your own writing and your own thinking. If you use a tool for spelling or translation tell us in your submission.
How to pitch or submit
You can send a short pitch before writing or send the finished piece. A pitch should take no more than a few paragraphs. It should say what your argument or story is and why readers should care now. It should also say who you are and why you are the right person to write it.
Send everything to [email address] with the subject line “Guest contribution” followed by a working title. Please include the following in your message:
- Your full name and the town or district where you live
- A phone number so an editor can reach you
- A short biography of two or three sentences
- Any relationship you have to the subject of the piece
- Links or documents that support the facts in your piece
Most opinion essays and personal accounts run between 600 and 900 words. Expert commentary may run up to 1,200 words. Letters should stay under 200 words. If your piece is longer than these limits tell us why it needs the space.
What happens after you send it
An editor reads every submission. We aim to reply within seven working days. Many pieces are not accepted and the reason is often a matter of space or timing and not quality. If we decline we will say so plainly. We cannot always give detailed feedback but we will try to when a piece is close.
If we want to publish your piece an editor will work with you on it. We check the facts and quotes and figures in every guest piece just as we do in our own reporting. You may be asked for sources and documents. We may suggest cuts or a different structure or a stronger opening. We do not change your argument without your agreement. You will see the edited version before it goes live and you will have the chance to raise any concern. The final decision on what is published rests with the editor in chief.
We write the headline and the summary. We will tell you what they are before publication and we will change them if they misrepresent your piece.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest
Readers should know who is speaking to them and what interest that person might have. You must tell us if you have a financial or political or professional connection to the subject of your piece. This includes employment and ownership and family ties and paid consulting work and membership in a group that would benefit. We will publish that information with your piece when it matters to how readers might judge it.
If a conflict is not disclosed and we find out later we will add a note to your piece and we may decline future submissions from you. A serious breach may lead us to remove the piece and say why.
Labelling
Guest pieces are clearly marked with the words “Guest contribution” or “Opinion” at the top. Your name and your short biography appear with the piece. Our newsroom does not endorse the views in guest pieces and they do not reflect the position of Tamrah News. Guest pieces appear in a separate section from our news coverage and are never placed in a way that makes them look like reporting.
Payment and rights
We do not currently pay for guest contributions. This may change and if it does we will update this page. Any payment we offer will be agreed in writing before publication.
You keep the copyright to your work. By submitting it you give us permission to publish it on our website and in our newsletters and social media accounts. We will not sell or license your work to anyone else without asking you. You are free to share your piece elsewhere after it appears with us provided you mention that it first appeared on Tamrah News. If you wish to publish your piece somewhere else before it appears with us please tell us. We prefer work that has not appeared elsewhere but we will consider exceptions.
Corrections and withdrawals
Guest pieces are held to the same standards of accuracy as the rest of our work. If a factual error is found in a guest piece we correct it following our Corrections Policy. We will tell the author before making the change when we can.
If you wish to withdraw a piece before publication write to your editor and we will respect that. After publication we remove pieces only under the conditions set out in our Corrections Policy.
Responses to guest pieces
A guest piece may draw strong reactions. People who disagree are welcome to write to us and we publish a range of replies in letters. If a piece makes claims about a person or an organisation and that person or organisation believes the claims are wrong they may ask for a reply of equal length. The editor in chief decides whether the request is reasonable. We do not edit out criticism of the piece from the comments or letters we publish unless it breaks our rules on abuse.
Questions
If you are unsure whether your idea is right for us write to stories@tamrahnews.com or conatct us and ask. We would rather hear from you before you spend hours on a draft. This page was last updated on 1 October 2026 and we review it every year.
Tamrah News