Publication analysis

About the publication

Title: Santa Cruz Sentinel or Santa Cruz County Sentinel

ISSN: 1072-446X (Print)¹

Website: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/

Purpose, objective, or mission: To provide news and information to residents of the Santa Cruz area.

Target audience: Populace of Santa Cruz and surrounding smaller townships.

Publisher: MediaNews Group.²

Peer reviewed? No.

Type: Civilian newspaper.

Medium: Print and online.

Content: International, national, state, and local news; sports; entertainment; community notices; reviews; and various other topics of local interest.

Frequency of publication: Daily.³

About the publication’s submission guidelines

Location of submission guidelines: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/submit-letters

Types of contributions accepted: News, photos or videos, letters to the editors, and op-eds.⁴

Submission and review process: Submissions for news, photos or videos should be emailed to newsroom [at] santacruzsentinel.com.

Op-eds should be no more than 650 words and should be sent to editorial [at] santacruzsentinel.com.

Letters should be no more than 150 words and should be sent to editorial [at] santacruzsentinel.com. “We do not accept anonymous letters. Letter-writers should include their full name – initials aren’t enough – as well as a street address and telephone number. We don’t publish those details in the newspaper, but need the information for verification purposes.”⁵

Editorial tone: Informative.

Style guide used: None stated.

Conclusion: Evaluation of publication’s potential for LIS authors

The first reason for publishing in a local paper is to garner support for the local library, announce upcoming events, or bring issues to the attention of the community. The second reason to publish in the local paper is to begin attaching one’s name and voice to library issues, which may cause the author to be contacted in the future on similar subjects. In other words, become an expert (or at least a contact) for local library issues and events.

Audience analysis

About the publication’s readers

Publication circulation: Unknown.

Audience location and language or cultural considerations: Readers reside in the Santa Cruz area. The Santa Cruz Sentinel is an English language publication.

Reader characteristics: According to the U.S. Census, the population of Santa Cruz County is 50.5% female, 49.5% male, and 87.0% White.⁶. Additionally, 40% of the population has obtained at least a Bachelor’s degree and the median household income is 78,000 dollars.⁷

Knowledge of LIS subject matter: As this is a lay publication, writers should not assume that readers know and understand LIS jargon, and thus should explain any LIS jargon they use in their work.

Conclusion: Analysis of reader characteristics and their potential impact on authors

When writing and submitting pieces for publication, authors should be familiar with the area in order to tailor their piece to the concerns and interests of residents.

Last updated: September 27, 2020.

References

Publication analysis

About the publication

Title: Sacramento Bee

ISSN: 0890-5738 (Print)¹

Website: http://sacbee.com

Purpose, objective, or mission: “…to produce a newspaper that serves the needs of its community without becoming subservient to the whims of public opinion or the pressures of the powerful.”²

Target audience: “The Bee’s circulation area covers the Northern Sacramento Valley and surrounding areas: south to Stockton, north to Redding, east to Reno and west to the San Francisco Bay Area.”³

Publisher: The McClatchy Company.⁴

Peer reviewed? No.

Type: Civilian newspaper

Medium: Print and online.⁵

Content: Local, state, and national news, politics, community events calendar, sports, and entertainment.

Frequency of publication: Daily.⁶

About the publication’s submission guidelines

Location of submission guidelines: http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/submit-letter/article3351588.html

Types of contributions accepted: The Bee accepts letters to the editor (150 words),⁷ opinion columns and personal viewpoints of roughly 600 words.⁸

Submission and review process: Use the separate online forms for submitting a letter or opinion piece, and read the instructions for each.

Editorial tone: None identified.

Style guide used: None mentioned.

Conclusion: Evaluation of publication’s potential for LIS authors

An LIS author who resides in or has personal knowledge of the market served by the publication could write a letter to the editor about a current library funding issue, a longer article on the value of libraries specific to a population within Sacramento, or write in response to a published article in The Bee about the state of library services. There are many possibilities for an LIS author familiar with the market area.

Audience analysis

About the publication’s readers

Publication circulation: 92,733 paid daily, 164,041 paid Sunday, average monthly online audience of 27,608,000.⁹

Audience location and language or cultural considerations: “The Bee’s circulation area covers the Northern Sacramento Valley and surrounding areas: south to Stockton, north to Redding, east to Reno and west to the San Francisco Bay Area.”¹⁰ This is an English language publication serving a racially diverse population.

Reader characteristics: Demographic information is not available, but according to the United States Census, Sacramento County is 62.8% white and 23.6% Hispanic or Latino.¹¹ The publication supports community arts and champions environmental causes.¹²

Knowledge of LIS subject matter: The readers of this publication are the general public and would have limited knowledge of LIS matters and terminology.

Conclusion: Analysis of reader characteristics and their potential impact on authors

Since the readers of The Bee will not be familiar with LIS jargon or library issues, an author needs to keep writing for this publication general and be certain to provide convincing reasons for the reader to care about the library topic of their article.

Last updated: September 14, 2020

References