The Witsand Observer welcomes contributions from the community. If you have witnessed news, heard rumours that sound true enough, or simply have strong opinions about something, we want to hear from you.

How to Submit

We accept story submissions through GitHub Issues. This modern approach to community journalism ensures that your story ideas are properly tracked, discussed, and occasionally ignored for months.

Submit Your Story on GitHub →

What We’re Looking For

The Witsand Observer is interested in stories that affect the community, including but not limited to:

• Breaking News: Did something happen? Tell us about it.
• Local Politics: Decisions made by people 70km away that somehow affect us
• Wildlife Sightings: Unusual birds, fish that got away, suspicious seagull behaviour
• Community Events: Gatherings of three or more people
• Infrastructure Updates: That pothole everyone knows about
• Letters to the Editor: Your thoughts on things, provided they are amusing
• Corrections: If we got something wrong, which seems statistically inevitable

Submission Guidelines

When submitting a story, please include:

1. A headline (or at least a vague sense of what the story is about)
2. The key facts (who, what, where, when, why, and optionally how)
3. Any relevant quotes (things people said, or things you imagine they might say)
4. Your name (or a pen name if you prefer to maintain mystery)

What Happens Next

1. You submit your story idea
2. Our editorial team reviews it (this may take some time, as we have other things to do)
3. We may ask follow-up questions in the GitHub comments
4. If approved, we write it up proper and publish it
5. You achieve minor local fame

A Note on Anonymity

Sources can remain anonymous if requested. We will refer to you as “a reliable source” or “someone who would know” or “a person familiar with the matter.” This is standard journalistic practice and definitely not because we forgot to write down your name.

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Have a story tip but don’t want to use GitHub? Unfortunately, that’s your only option. We considered setting up an email address but that seemed like a lot of work.