An Cosantóir

www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE | 25 Writing and submitting articles to An Cosantóir BY SGT WAYNE FITZGERALD A n Cosantóir is the official magazine of the Irish Defence Forces. First published in December 1940, An Cosantóir provides, in print format, accurate and timely infor- mation about Defence Forces operations and policies to its members, their families and interested parties worldwide. A typical issue may contain articles dealing with new equip- ment, training, overseas service, unit and individual activities and achievements, international military affairs, military history, sport and much more. As an in-house military publication we have three staff trained in journalism and many regular contributors, but we can't be everywhere or attend all events. We are always look- ing for new content from readers of all ranks and units, both serving and retired, fulltime or reserve. We can't guarantee everything will be published, but what is published will be the best and most timely content available. All material sub- mitted should have a military related topic or be of interest to our readership. We would like articles and letters submitted electronically, either by email, memory stick or CD/DVD. Hardcopy (typed not written) articles are also accepted but will delay their use. Decide on your topic, and consider does it require a lot of text to get the story across, or does it just need and introduc- tion paragraph with the photographs telling the story. Short articles are from 300 to 700 words max per A4 page, this allows for four to five small photos. Regular articles are two page articles with 700 to 1400 words max. This max word count must include the captions of photos, as this takes up space too. Ideally we need 7-10 photos to allow a suitable selection process. Larger articles are considered, though they may be spread over two issues or submitted to the 'Defence Forces Review' publication with the author's approval. It is vital to have a struc- ture to your article; you need to present the facts in a logi- cal and orderly fashion and to give the reader an un- derstandable sequence of events. We use the Five Ws - Who, What, Where, When, Why and in addition, How? These should be dealt with as early as possible in the story, but its not essential to included them all in the lead paragraph – let the story flow. • Who are the main people in the story? • What was the occasion? • Why did it happen? • When did it happen? • Where did it happen? • How is another question that can be asked in many situations? The following are the key elements in a story: • The Title - the headline of the story. • The Lead - the first sentence of the story. • The Nut Graph - this paragraph explains the news value of the story and usually comes after the lead. • The Body - this includes background information and supporting material. • The Ending - this is meant to give a logical and satisfac- tory conclusion to the story. Sending in a photograph especially by email, please consider the following: • Save as: jpg/png format • File size: No less that 1 MB • Resolution: 300 DPI / 72 DPI with a larger size is also sufficient. • It must include L/R: rank, first and surnames & Who took the photograph? For our convenience and to make it easier to remember try getting the original photo from the digital camera that was used to take it, and send that in – credit will be given to the photographer. If you are sending in a number of digital pho- tographs, either use a file sharing utility like Microsoft's One Drive or Dropbox, or burn them to disc (CD/DVD) and post in! Clearly mark envelope 'CD with Photographs'. If posting in pho- tographic prints please avoid writing on the back of them.

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