Questions to ask yourself before writing an article for ‘Nation’

Every week I get mail from readers seeking to have their articles — mostly commentaries — published.

Many of the questions are necessary but many more are unnecessary because they could be answered by the readers themselves if they did their market research.

Many of the would-be writers do not take the trouble to study the market to find out, for example, such things as the types of articles, their length and style published by NMG publications.

So they ask questions they could have answered for themselves if they had done research.

TOPICAL ISSUES
For contributors, research not only on the market but also on the subject matter one is writing about is key to being published.

Even commentaries require research because even though they are about your personal observation and what you think about the subject, a good one must be grounded on facts, quotations, citations, or data from other sources.

Research is necessary because the vitality of opinion depends on the knowledge and expertise of the writer.

As a contributor, you do not need any help or favours from the editor if you follow those writing steps.

Editors, I must say, love to publish topical, well-researched and well-written articles.

They feel and look good, like they’ve written the articles themselves.  

This is not the first time I am addressing this topic. It cannot be repeated too often if the mail I get on a weekly basis is anything to go by.

EXTENSIVE RESEARCH
My September 2, 2016, article, ‘This is what you should do to get the editor to consider your article’, dealt with the same issue on the importance of carrying out market research before writing to see the types of articles that are published, say in the Daily Nation, in terms of subject matter, writing style, length, and so on.

“You should then try to write articles that comply with those general requirements,” I advised.

Earlier, on March 12, 2015, I had written another article, “We all have opinions, but not all of them are suitable for publication in the paper”, in which I quoted former opinion editor Magesha Ngwiri saying: “If you have something to say, an argument to make, be precise, informative and well-informed…Do your research…There is no use regurgitating bar-talk and trying to pass it off as sagacity borne out of deep rumination. It won’t wash.”

I also quoted then Group Managing Editor Mutuma Mathiu saying: “A large proportion of the material we get is unpublishable; a lot of it is not very informative and adds little to the various public debates.”

OPEN TO ALL
Let me repeat. If you research the market and the topic, if you write simply and clearly, you will not need any help or favour from the editor to get published.

He or she will be happy to publish your article. The NMG also declares in its editorial policy that as a social institution it discharges crucial duties by carrying information, debates, analytical and critical comments on society and is, therefore, particularly responsible for allowing different views to be expressed.

“Our op-ed pages and other sections for political commentary shall remain open to all as a platform for debate; great care being taken to capture East Africa’s rich diversity of political thought and opinion.”
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Don’t I deserve free copies of the Nation?

Last week, Peter Githinji wrote: “I have been reading the Nation continuously since 1969 when I started working and I have been a contributor to the Letters to the Editor page since 1980s.

For all those years I have enjoyed reading this newspaper.

I am now 71 years old. Even whenever I was on leave I always made sure I got my copy.

In the 70s, working in Lamu, we had to book our copies in advance and they used to arrive in the evening.

How much have I invested in the Nation? Prices have been changing. Anyway, I have always liked writing.

I have some manuscripts, which have never seen the light of day. Don’t you think I deserve free copies of the Nation?”

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