SikhNet is an online portal for the world-wide Sikh community. We welcome your original articles and videos. You can submit them to [email protected] or through the SikhNet Facebook page.

Here are our editorial guidelines to help with your submission.

Positive Content

SikhNet News is focused on spreading good news and good will. We are especially looking for inspirational stories.

We have learned, over time, that the most popular content in the SikhNet News falls under the following topics:

• Stories and videos which highlight Sikhs who are doing something positive or interesting in the world.
• Stories and videos which highlight Sikh communities making a difference.
• Stories and videos showing how Sikhi is expanding.
• Thoughtful essays that look at modern day issues from a Sikh perspective.
• Interesting essays, photos or videos that share Sikh history or explore Sikh philosophy
• Updates about events happening within the world-wide Sikh community.
• Other content that has a positive tone about what Sikhs are doing now or have done in the past.
• Health information, especially relating to Punjabi people
• General spirituality especially if it can be related to Sikhi

Political Issues

There are many political issues within the Sikh community. SikhNet consciously chooses to not feature content that could be politically polarizing or divisive. However, submissions are welcome on these issues when they are neutral and are focused on practical solutions. Human rights issues are welcome especially if told from a personal experience.

1.   SikhNet does not publish news of a political nature.  We acknowledge whether and to what extent a news item is considered “political” is a subjective decision.  The editorial board reserves the right to determine if a news item meets the threshold of “political” and SikhNet’s approach of “good news and good will.”

2. SikhNet reserves the right to avoid publishing any story that gives misleading information or fuels intra-Sikh political conflicts or connections or disrespects any institutions without cause.
3.   SikhNet reserves the right to withhold publishing an individual’s titles, certifications, accomplishments or claims regarding events IF SUCH CLAIMS have not been verified.

4.  SikhNet reserves the right not to publish any items where any individual(s) or organization(s) are perceived to be taking advantage of the publicity and outreach that SikhNet provides. Further no such content may be distributed in any form or media using SikhNet’s good name and offices.

 Please Avoid:

• Speaking negatively about people or institutions within or outside of the Sikh community.
• Being inflammatory, accusatory, guilting or blaming
• Endorsements or advertisements solely for a campaign, project or business
• Disempowering or victimizing information
• Opinion pieces that come off as judgmental, preachy, or forceful. Avoid highlighting what people are doing wrong. We are interested in educating people with positive information and actions.

 

Seva

At the moment, SikhNet does not pay for original content. We are grateful to those of you who create original content to share through SikhNet as a seva to the community. If you wish to become a regular columnist for SikhNet please write to [email protected]

 

Format of submissions:

Articles:

Please send articles in a Microsoft Word or simple text file. PDF files are not as easy for us to convert. Articles must be in the English language. Articles in Punjabi may be submitted only if accompanied by an English version as well.

Images:

Every article requires a thumbnail image. The larger the better but thumbnails need to measure at least 300 x 225 pixels. This will be used to feature the article on our homepage and on our news page. The image is very important. The more attractive the image, the more people will read your article. Please feel free to include additional images inside the article, because those attract readers and allow them to absorb the article more fully. Acceptable image formats include .jpg, .gif, and .png, but we prefer .jpg or .jpeg.

Length:

Submission vary in length; but we have some basic guidelines. Your submission should be at least a few paragraphs, even if they are very short paragraphs. If you submit a Microsoft Word article a dozen pages long, that’s too much. Try to keep articles under 5 pages.

Coherency:

If it takes a lot of restructuring and thought for the editor to interpret it, it needs to go back to the author for more editing. Please do not use legal or academic language. Articles should be easily understood by the average English reader.

Complete piece:

Though news leads are nice, if it the subject requires research we prefer the submitter take the time. The submission should be a complete article.

Videos:

Upload:

Please post your videos to Youtube.com, and send us the link.

Resolution:

Please output your video at whatever original size you recorded it in, with a minimum size of around 720×480. High Definition quality preferred (720p or 1080p).

Support Material:

Please include a screen capture we can post with the video. Your image should be at least 300 x 225 pixels. Videos to be featured in the news need a write-up. The write-up should describe the content of the video well enough that a reader can easily understand the point of the video without watching it. Our readers often don’t watch the videos but still want to read about the content. So please be complete in the written article.

Subtitles:

If your video contains Punjabi dialog (or any non-English language) make sure that you create sub-titles. All of our content is understandable to the English speaker so we require subtitles and translations. Subtitles can be created separately, in a subtitle creation software. The subtitle (.srt file) can then be added to your youtube video after it has been uploaded (using the CC option). This gives the user the option to toggle on and off the subtitles as well as formatting preferences. Alternatively you can “hard-code” subtitles in your video editing software. This is less preferable in most cases, but we will accept it.

 

Credits and Source

At the top of every article we give credit to the author. We also link to the online source if the content is from another page. This helps bring exposure to you, your cause, or your website.

Thank you for being a contributor to SikhNet News!