We welcome suggestions on improving these guidelines.

Email: contributors@iq4news.com

ARTICLES

1. Articles should be no longer than 1,200 words. We would encourage contributors to aim for as close to 400 words as possible.
2. Headlines and sub-headings should be appropriate and relevant to the context of the story.
3. We encourage contributors to maintain 2-4 lines per paragraph for easy reading.
4. Subject matter should be relevant to an African audience.
5. Subject matters that are not about Africa or an African country should be contextualized for an African audience or from an African perspective.
6. You can cover stories from a local, national or international perspective.  We particularly encourage local stories and these can be as local as your street.
7. Any submissions should deal with current issues, but a contrast can be made between then and now, for example.
8. Feature content must be current and timely.
9. Quotes should be used sparingly.    

VIDEO JOURNALISM

1. Videos should be between 1-4 minutes in length
2. The interviewer can either appear once (at the beginning, middle or end) in the report or not at all. 
3. Each video should not exceed the use of three Vox-Pops.
4. If contributing an interview we expect journalists to be engaging and analytical in their approach. We do not accept advertorials!
5. Promotional videos/advertorials will automatically be rejected.
6. Always use a tripod unless the style of reporting does not allow this.
7. Remember, the sound quality of your video report should be clear. Poor sound quality can destroy an otherwise good story.

DOCUMENTARIES

1. These should be creative with different angles and should be between 10-30 minutes in length.
2. We particularly encourage human-angle documentaries but are open to all styles.
3. We do not accept advertorials.
4. If you are using embed codes from youtube, please note that youtube may have a limit on duration per upload. In such circumstances you can embed the number of links that make up your video.
5. Always use a tripod unless the style of reporting does not allow this.
6. Remember, the sound quality of your video report should be clear. Poor sound quality can destroy an otherwise good story.

AUDIO

1. We are open to most types of audio submissions from news reports, to interviews and dramas.
2. Excellent sound quality is essential.

PHOTO JOURNALISM

1. The use of new styles such as audio slide-shows is encouraged. They combine: photography, audio and video to communicate a story:

   Slide-shows should be 2-5 minutes in length.

   Voice-overs used in the slide-show should tell a story rather than communicate what is shown in the photograph.

2. If you prefer to submit photographs, they should be of good quality and saved in a JPEG format with a short description/narrative for each photo.
3. You should also submit an introductory paragraph that is no more than 300 words in length.

There are five main categories of content we accept:

• News
• Opinion
• Feature
• Interview
• Breaking News

We are however always open to suggestions if you think there are other categories that are missing. This is a community directed by its contributors and users.