How to write a news story – Hypergrid Business

At Hypergrid Business, news articles are our bread and butter.Â We’re looking for news about how virtual reality is used in non-gaming applications, such as business, education, government, and non-profits. We’re also always looking for news about virtual reality software, hardware, and platforms — in particular, about OpenSim and the hypergrid.

Send ideas for news stories to editor@hypergridbusiness.com. The more timely, the better!

Do not write articles “on spec.” If we can’t use them, it’s a waste of your time and ours, and annoys everyone you interviewed.

Here are the guidelines for a news story.

Length

Around 500 to 800 words

Headline

Should summarize the story briefly and include an action verb: someone did something.

Story structure

Start with a strong lead paragraph. Who did what? Where? When? Why?
Follow up with other information in short paragraphs in decreasing order of importance.
Each paragraph should have a clear source. Where did you get this information? Where appropriate, provide links.
Every second or third paragraph should be a quote.

Sources

Your own interviews, press releases, videos, Kickstarter campaigns, new apps, other publications, and research reports.

How to quote people

We love to see quotes in a story. As a general rule of thumb, every third paragraph should be a quote.

Each quote should have its own paragraph.
On first reference, include the person’s full legal name, title, company or organization, where the company is based, and a link to its website.
- Example: “Our virtual reality headset cures cancer,” John Smith, CEO of Atlanta-based Snake Oil Inc., told Hypergrid Business. “And it’s gluten-free.”
If the person does not want to give their name, or wants to be quoted under a pseudonym, please say why.
- Example: “Our virtual reality headset doesn’t do anything at all,” said a Snake Oil Inc. employee who did not want to give his real name out of concern for his job security.
- Example: “You can also visit our showroom in-world,” said Smith, also known as “John TheSnake” on the Snake Oil grid.
- Example: “I love their headsets,” said Fairy Flyfeather, who did not want to give their real name because they didn’t want people to know that they spent all their free time as a virtual fairy.
On second reference, say “he said” or “she said” or “they said” or use the person’s last name. If it’s been more than three paragraphs since they were quoted last, also include the company name.
Use the verbs “said,” “told,” and “added.” Mostly just use “said.” Other verbs carry emotional connotations. Avoid them at all costs.
With each quote, include its source and a link when appropriate.
- Example: “The regulators are trying to shut us down,” Snake Oil’s Smith said in a Tweet yesterday. “When did good marketing become a criminal offense?”
The best way to get quotes is to contact the source directly, either in person, by phone, by Zoom, by Skype, by email, via chat, or through an in-world meeting.
When contacting people, if you have been assigned the story by Hypergrid Business, you can tell people that you are writing for us. Feel free to refer them to your editor for confirmation.
Other places to get quotes include social media posts, forum posts, press releases, videos, and other news outlets.
Note that the attribution comes after the first part of the quote, not before, and that the punctuation is inside the quotation marks.

Photo sources:

Press releases, product images on shopping websites, images from promotional websites.
Stills from video games or videos.
Flickr images licensed for commercial use.
Pixabay, Unsplash, Pexel Public Domain images
Any other public domain image sources, including images from Wikipedia Commons and government websites.
Images that previously ran in Hypergrid Business.
Photographs provided by sources, when those sources own the rights to the images, and give us permission to use them.
Original photographs that you took yourself.
We cannot use images that belong to other publications — editorial privilege only goes so far.
Attach or link to the largest version of the image. Write a caption describing what the image is. Write a credit line describing the source of the image.

Format:

File as plain text or RTF file, or just include the article in the body of your email.
If you attack a file, please use systematic filenames. For example, HB-2021-July-StoryTopic-AuthorName-v1.txt
When filing a rewrite, use a different filename. In the example above, for instance, change the -v1 to -v2 or -v3.
Include a title and your byline at the top of the story.
Include links as relevant in the text.
Include at least one image, either as link or attachment, with a caption and credit.
If there’s a video, include the embed code for the video.
If this is your first time filing, include your photo as an attachment, a one-or-two-sentence bio, and a link to your website.

Examples of articles:

Rights:

Unless we ask you to sign an all-rights contract, by default, we only get one-time publication rights to freelance contributions.
You retain your original copyright to the story, and are free to publish it in other publications.
You can publish it on your own website, or include it in a book. Really, you can do anything you want with it.
If you like, you can include a link back to the Hypergrid Business story, but you don’t have to.
If we want to reuse your story for another purpose, such as inclusion in a book, we will ask your permission first.

Fact-check guidelines:

In addition, we have new fact-checking policies for all stories published in Hypergrid Business.

First of all, every piece of information mentioned in the article should include either a link to the online source, or the name of the person who provided you with that information.

If the source of the information is your own personal experience, you will need to specify what expertise that is.

Second, we will need a list of contact information for each person quoted in their article, including name, title, organization, and email address or phone number. The contact information will not be published, but will be used as part of our fact-checking process. You will need to let your sources know that they may be contacted later by a fact-checker.

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