Editorial Rejection on Non-Editorial Article

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JayeRyan
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2013 11:44 am

Editorial Rejection on Non-Editorial Article

Post by JayeRyan »

Last month, I submitted for consideration and offer an article that pertains to identity theft and Twitter parody accounts. The only opinion noted in the piece is a short quote-description of an alleged perpetrator's activity by the victim's attorney, a few-word quote that was used extensively by newspapers, et al.

The C-C staff rejected the piece, stating that they do not allow editorial pieces.

I replied to the email notification without response. I navigated to the listing's response area and sent a reply, requesting clarification of what they considered "editorial" in nature and a link to the primary resource story. I've yet to receive a response on that one too.

The only "guidance" in the notification was to refer to the submission standards for writers: "No editorial pieces allowed." Well, gee, that certainly answered my question, didn't it? Not. So here I write, requesting clarification as to what on Earth they consider editorial in a fact-based piece -- with resource link provided.
BarryDavidson
Posts: 561
Joined: Tue Oct 21, 2008 11:10 am

Re: Editorial Rejection on Non-Editorial Article

Post by BarryDavidson »

Jaye,

If the editor in question deemed the piece to be editorial or opinion there's not much you can do. I had the same issue a while back with a piece based entirely on research of facts. The editor said my article was an opinion piece.

Replying to the email rejection doesn't go anywhere. The editors no longer have any contact with writers, and support cannot answer questions about the particular article because they have never seen it. As for what is considered editorial, aside from a few criteria, it is up to the editor. We have several editors now as far as I can tell so there's no telling who made the decision.

Just for clarification I wrote a piece on the constitutionality of Defense Directive 1304.26, or Don't Ask Don't Tell to everyone else. In the article I provided the constitutional basis for the directive, and Supreme Court precedent. I also discussed the articles in the UCMJ which were used before the directive was issued. I went into the project with an open mind, and let precedent and law guide where it went.
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