Our mission is to provide fact-based, thoroughly-researched, and completely free local news to every resident of Sudbury, Massachusetts.
Local news has always been fueled by the communities it serves. Years ago communities supported local news by way of paid subscriptions. The Internet, social media, et al, ultimately rendered that business model obsolete. Sudbury Weekly believes there’s a better, more sustainable model for the future: why not offer the community the opportunity to give their time, rather than their money, to support local reporting? After all, the best local reporting comes from experts in the community.
We believe fact-based, hyper-local reporting is an act of community service, and we will create opportunities for experts and stakeholders inside and outside of Sudbury to contribute.
Code of Ethics
Sudbury Weekly subscribes to the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics. That code is based on four guiding principles:
● Seek truth and report It
● Minimize harm
● Act independently
● Be accountable and transparent
Sudbury Weekly subscribes to the standards of the Editorial Independence Policy provided by the Institute for Nonprofit News.
Sudbury Weekly currently does not accept advertising, gifts or donations of any kind. We realize there are other scenarios that could create the appearance of a conflict of interest, so our policy is to disclose directly whenever there’s a chance that our independence could be questioned.
Sudbury Weekly accepts opinion articles at its discretion and reserves the right to decline any submission. We accept opinion pieces that express diverse perspectives, but we will not publish personal attacks or defamation of character.
Opinion submissions must be:
- Ideally 500-750 words.
- Timely and relevant to our readers. Focus on Sudbury-specific issues.
- Fact-based with links to supporting materials.
- Well-written and thoughtfully organized arguments about a topic or issue.
- Attributed to your full name in the byline with a one-sentence identification if relevant.
- Exclusive to Sudbury Weekly; not to be published elsewhere.
We are also willing to consider graphic opinion pieces, such as cartoons, as well as poetry, creative writing, and humor. We have no limitation on the topic, but it must be timely and relevant to Sudbury Weekly readers.
How to submit:
- Send the submission via email to sudburyweekly@gmail.com.
- The full name of the author and a one-sentence identification if relevant must be in the body of the document.
We try to review all submissions in a timely manner but cannot guarantee a response to every submission. We also do not promise any explanation for a decision not to accept a submission.
All opinion submissions are subject to editing. We will recommend any changes we deem necessary to ensure the piece adds value for readers and meets our quality standards and review the edited version with the author. If the author does not agree, we reserve the right not to publish the piece.
Sudbury Weekly conducts Q&A interviews with candidates ahead of Sudbury Town Elections. All candidates are offered an equal opportunity to respond to the same set of questions. All responses are published as received on a pre-determined date for each race during each election cycle. We do not require all candidates to respond in order to publish responses.
Sudbury Weekly does not endorse candidates in Town Elections, nor do we take position on ballot questions or Town Meeting articles.
We accept letters to the editor supporting candidates for elected positions in Sudbury Town Elections only. We also accept letters supporting or opposing ballot questions and articles at Town Meetings. Such letters must meet the standards of our Opinion Section Policy, and in addition must:
- Be no longer than 750 words.
- Be submitted by a Sudbury resident.
- Include the name of the author.
- Be submitted via email with the name, address and phone number of the author. We will not publish the address or phone number, but we need to verify the person who sent the letter and confirm if they are a Sudbury resident.
We cease publishing letters of support for candidates and ballot questions two weeks prior to the Annual Town Election. We cease publishing letters on Town Meeting articles two weeks prior to the Annual or Special Town Meeting.
We accept submissions of press releases, event notices and other public service announcements. We reserve the right to decide which such submissions to publish. All submissions should be timely, relevant and informative for Sudbury Weekly readers.
We do not accept, publish or disseminate political advertising for candidates, issues, ballot questions or Town Meeting articles.