Newspaper article clippings

January 16, 2017 2:04 PM

Pure vanity question - if my work was covered in print by the major US newspapers in the last couple of weeks, and I wanted to get my hands on actual newsprint versions of the stories (not print versions from the web), what are some easy and/or creative ways to go about it? Preferably with no more than a postage stamp budget?
posted by RedOrGreen to Media & Arts (3 answers total)

For issues that recent, newspapers will still have copies on hand and will sell and mail them to you. However, it will cost cover price plus postage, so isn’t quite the solution you’re looking for. For this option, you will need to call or email their circulation department.

If you’re willing to put in the effort, you might be able to find someone on staff willing to just send you a copy. It’s not horribly unusual for reporters and writers to send a courtesy paper to someone they’ve written about, particularly if they had personal contact with the subject of the story. It kind of depends on the context. If it was a stringer/freelancer or a wire service story, the odds of this go way down. You can still try it, though. Contact their newsroom, either the specific writer you worked with, or if that’s not applicable, the editor or assistant editor of the category your coverage would have fit into – news, features (includes entertainment, human interest), sports.

If you ARE the writer – I apologize! I might have misunderstood, and you’re saying you wrote something that was picked up regionally or nationally? Ask your editor/see option B regarding contacting an editor in that specific newsroom.
posted by Occula at 2:59 PM on January 16, 2017

Libraries keep national papers around for a while. You can scan them to your smart phone....or, if time has passed, you can get away with tearing out one single article, as no one reads newspapers over a day old, and the library will surely throw it out soon anyway.

Strong suggestion (from experience) that you only keep a token few paper clippings, and mostly just scan. The clippings will brown, they'll wind up in a box you won't be able to find later, it's a drag. Digital's better for this.

Can we see one of the articles? (if you'd rather be anon, no problem, I'm just an astronomy fan).
posted by Quisp Lover at 6:17 PM on January 16, 2017

Response by poster: > you can get away with tearing out one single article, as no one reads newspapers over a day old, and the library will surely throw it out soon anyway.

Eeek. But you're right, I should probably figure out who is in charge of recycling old newspapers.

> Can we see one of the articles? (if you'd rather be anon, no problem)
Sure, no problem... (1, 2)
posted by RedOrGreen at 10:51 AM on January 17, 2017