The Daily is paid for in part by the Services and Activities Fee (i.e. from your tuition bill) and is granted a special position on the UW campus, so don't forget that as a UW student the Daily is YOURS! Below are a few things you should know about how to take advantage of it.

There are a few ways to get an issue that's important to you into the Daily: getting the news department to run a story, getting the opinion page to run a column, writing a letter to the editor, and submitting information for the calendar. In all cases, the best way to get something printed is to write it yourself, and then meet with the editor(s) in person! If that doesn't work, there is an appeals process.

NEWS

If you want a news story run about an important issue, the key is to convince the news editor that it's important. Start by writing a succinct press release and mailing, faxing, or hand-delivering it to the news editor so that s/he knows about it three days in advance. Then follow up with a call two days in advance and again the morning of your event. (Daily editors' office hours are erratic, and the message system isn't always trustworthy, so you may have to call a number of times to get through.)

OPINION

There are three ways to write for the opinion page: getting on staff, writing a guest column, and contributing a letter to the editor.

Becoming a staff columnist
One of the main reasons the Daily runs such poor writing on a regular basis is its lack of decent writers. You can do better. Anyone can write for the Daily with a good idea, basic writing skills, and a bit of perseverance. Contact the opinion editor for an application.

Guest Column
Most opinion editors encourage guest columns from members of the UW community, especially students. Again, contact the opinion editor for details, or just write your column (keep it below 4000 characters if you can) and then approach him/her.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Letters are the least dependable way to have your opinion voiced in the Daily, because they usually entail no personal contact with the editor, but when they are printed, they can be a useful voice of dissent to the Daily.

The opinion editor rarely makes promises about what letters will go in when, since they're often used to fill the space left over from columns and illustrations. Keep them as short as possible, ideally 300 words or less, and mail, email, or hand deliver them to one of the addresses below.

CALENDAR

Like everything else at the Daily, everything changes quarterly. Past calendars have run seldom if ever, once a week, or on a daily basis. The best way to find out is to check out the current issue, or call the newsroom. Also, be aware that the compilers may exercise "editorial license" and add comments to (or totally ignore) your event listing. Of course, there is no way to know how many people or who reads the calendar, but it can't hurt put your event in.

If/when your article doesn't get printed

There is an appeals process, which will probably require more than one meeting. You need to start by climbing up the chain of command; if you were dealing with a writer, talk to their editor. If you were dealing with an editor, talk to the editor-in-chief. If that doesn't work, you can try meeting with the publisher, Oren Campbell, or the Board of Student Publications.

The Board of Publications was set up to make sure that the Daily complies with the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics. Unfortunately, the Board has been unwilling in the past to make Daily editors publish material, or to sanction them for printing articles that people find offensive; they probably would act only in the most egregious case imaginable.

Since there is no office for the Board, Oren Campbell should arrange for you to address the Board if you have exhausted other possiblities. If you have any difficulty getting heard, the ASUW and the GPSS both have representatives on the Board, and they should be able to arrange for you to get on the agenda.