Thank you for your interest in writing for The Sentinel. We’re glad you decided to check out this page.
The Sentinel welcomes pitches and submissions from freelance contributors and writers. We believe local news deserves to be heard, so we invite you to share your incredible stories about issues that matter to you and our community.
We are always interested in stories relevant to the communities we serve. Ask yourself why our readers would care about what you would like to see The Sentinel publish. Before submitting your piece, please take the time to read through to the end of this page to learn more about who we are and how to submit.
We welcome articles and press releases for news briefs, milestones, and general news about schools, churches, civic groups, businesses, and charitable organizations in Champaign County. We also welcome your feedback and letters to the editor concerning any topic you think would be of interest to our readers.
We happily accept the following articles:
- Reviews of new music, books, films, TV shows, plays, museum exhibits, podcasts, performing arts, and other artistic endeavors
- Stories that capture the diverse cultures, ideas, ideals, myths, realities, hopes, and dreams
- Pieces that tell the story of life as an immigrant and the transition—both good and bad—into the fabric of American life
- Local human interest stories, analysis of current financial and political policies, and informative opinion pieces
- Q&As with people who are driving culture, innovation, justice, and positive change in the communities we cover
- Culture stories and profiles of talented residents, local artists, food, music, and literature in our area
Expect The Sentinel to consider your pitch with the following questions in mind: Has the writer shown a good grasp of the subject matter? Does the writer have any connections in or with our communities? Has this story been told before?
That said, we will just as happily reject:
- Scientific studies
- Articles from writers who demonstrate no prior knowledge of or history of living in Central Illinois
- Stories that marginalize underserved communities or perpetuate harmful clichés and stereotypes
- Pieces that do not connect with or address an issue of importance to Illinoisans
- Stories that have already been told by other outlets, whether local or national
Writers should also disclose any potential conflicts of interest when they pitch a story, whether it be a personal relationship with the subject or key source of a story or previous work for the institution that would be written about. If you currently write press releases for a university, we won’t let you write about them. However, if you did a feature for a school magazine a year ago and nothing since, we likely will. Just be transparent with us.
Please do not submit stories that have been previously published. The only exception is if your work has only been published in a small local publication with limited circulation or on your own blog.
We do accept "Guest Posts". Please remove sub-headlines (we find them annoying) prior to submitting your piece. Articles should not contain more than two external links. Link URLs can not point to the same domain.
If your piece contains more than two external links, we consider these advertorials. There is a nominal charge for advertorial placement. The piece, if we publish it, will be identified as such at the end of the article. Contact us at advertising@oursentinel.com for pricing.
To submit a proposal or article for consideration, please email it to editor@oursentinel.com. Please do not send pictures or artwork unless we request them. If we are interested in pursuing the story, an editor will follow up with you directly.
**Please note:** All anonymous sources of information, including submissions that include bogus or false phone numbers and/or email addresses, will be ignored and deleted immediately. If you can’t share your identity, we can’t trust your submission as being genuine or truthful.
In your cover letter, please include your social media usernames for Facebook,Twitter, and Instagram, as well as your name and phone number.
While The Sentinel makes every effort to accommodate all submissions, publication is not guaranteed, and all submissions are subject to editing for space and content. If your submission qualifies for distribution, we will either contact you for more detailed information or edit the information to adjust for The Sentinel's journalistic style. Depending on the level of editing, we may or may not present you with a draft of the article solely at our discretion.
Have more questions? Email us at editor@oursentinel.com.
