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Contact Us, About Us, How To Submit A Press Release

Main Office: 203-426-3141

The office phone is monitored regularly. Please leave a message if you get our voicemail.

Questions or concerns can also be addressed to sherri@thebee.com (Advertising) or editor@thebee.com (Editorial content).

Editorial

PLEASE SEND EMAIL TO ONE CONTACT ONLY—

  • Editor Jim Taylor: editor@thebee.com
  • Managing Editor Shannon Hicks: shannon@thebee.com
  • Sports Editor Andy Hutchison: andyh@thebee.com
  • Reporter Jenna Visca: jenna@thebee.com
  • See below the photo for details about The Newtown Bee‘s editorial content, including weekly deadlines, along with information on how to submit a press release.

Advertising

For ad rates and advertising deadline information for Classifieds and Real Estate, click here.

About The Newtown Bee

The Newtown Bee has been the hometown newspaper and news outlet of Newtown, Connecticut, since June 1877.

The offices of The Bee are located at 5 Church Hill Road, Newtown. We are the third driveway on the left if you are heading east on Church Hill Road from Main Street, and near the top of the hill if heading west on Church Hill Road. Ours is the red building with the bumblebee weathervane on the cupola; The Newtown Bee is also posted over our front door. Parking is on the street, or in any available space you can find in the lot to the immediate east of the building. The office is generally open Monday through Friday from 7:30 am until 6 pm (earlier and later by chance).

Telephone 203-426-3141, fax 203-426-5169, email editor@thebee.com. Mailing address is 5 Church Hill Road, Newtown CT 06470.

Jim Taylor is the Editor. The newspaper is published by early Thursday afternoon each week, with that Friday’s date.

Birth Announcements: A form is available in The Bee office and on our website (under the Home Tab/Submission Forms) for those wishing to announce the recent birth of a child or grandchild, or adoption. A photo can be included and will be returned if submitted with a stamped self-addressed envelope (The Newtown Bee, 5 Church Hill road, Newtown CT 06470).  Large .jpg files are also accepted. Contact Managing Editor Shannon Hicks for additional information shannon@thebee.com.

Business and Health News: A weekly Business and Health section of The Newtown Bee provides news ranging from our Business Buzz, promoting new local businesses, to localized health news. Editor Jim Taylor coordinates these sections. He may be reached at 203-426-3141 or editor@thebee.com. Announcements and releases about business- or health-related matters should be received at our offices at 5 Church Hill Road in Newtown by 4 pm Monday for consideration for that Friday’s edition.

Community Events: News about clubs and civic organizations, workshops, classes and other events of community interest should be received at The Bee office no later than noon Tuesday for publication in that week’s edition. Information for calendar listings can be mailed to or dropped off at the office, or e-mailed to shannon@thebee.com.

Engagements and Weddings: Forms are available in The Bee office and on our website (under the Home Tab/Submission Forms) for those wishing to announce weddings and engagements. Photos accompanying engagement and wedding announcements will be returned if they are submitted with a stamped self-addressed envelope; large .jpg files are also accepted. Wedding announcements must be received within six months of the date of the ceremony to be considered for publication. Completed announcements and photos can be mailed to or dropped off at the office, or e-mailed to shannon@thebee.com.

Enjoy: A weekly section of The Newtown Bee that provides news of the arts, food and cultural events. Managing Editor Shannon Hicks coordinates this section. She may be reached at 203-426-3141 and shannon@thebee.com. Announcements and news about cultural events for Enjoy should be received at our offices at 5 Church Hill Road in Newtown at least two weeks before the event. Deadline to submit materials for each week’s Enjoy section is noon Tuesday.

Horse News: Equestrian news is published regularly in The Newtown Bee. News releases about shows, clinics, and calendar listings should be mailed to Andy Hutchison c/o The Newtown Bee, 5 Church Hill Road, Newtown CT 06470. Brief calendar listings may be phoned in to Mr Hutchison at 203-426-3141, faxed to 203-426-5169, or emailed to andyh@thebee.com.

Letters: Deadline for letters is noon Wednesday. Writers are limited to two letters per month, with no more than one letter per week.

Letters to the editor that are mailed or hand delivered must be signed and dated. All letters must include the writer’s phone number and a street address for confirmation Addresses and phone numbers are not published.
There is a 500-word limit on letters except Thank You letters and letters of political endorsement, which are limited to 300 words. Longer letters will be returned for editing, and must be resubmitted to meet deadline.

Mail letters c/o Editor, The Newtown Bee, 5 Church Hill Road, Newtown CT 06470, or e-mail them to editor@thebee.com  with Letter to the Editor in the Subject line.
The Editor reserves the right to reject or edit any letter, and The Bee does not vouch for the accuracy or any of the assertions made in letters to the editor. NOTE: The opinions expressed in letters are those of the writer and do not reflect the position of The Newtown Bee.
All letters received for publication in the print edition of The Newtown Bee will be also published online at newtownbee.com each week concurrent with the publication of that week’s newspaper.

Obituaries: Beginning January 1, 2021, obituaries submitted for publication in the print edition of The Newtown Bee or at newtownbee.com will be charged $50 for the obituary with no photo, or $75 for obituaries that include a photograph. The charge for memorials is $25. (All obituaries submitted for print will be published online as well for the same price; online-only requests are subject to the costs noted.)
This price applies to obituaries that are 800 words or less in length. Each further increment of 100 words will be an additional $20 (for example, 800-900 words, $70 for obituary with no photo, $95 for obituary with photo; 900-1,000 words, $90 for obituary with no photo, $115 for obituary with photo, etc).
The person or funeral home submitting the obituary will be notified of the cost, and payment will be required prior to publication.
Obituaries can be submitted to editor@thebee.com. The Newtown Bee can provide editing services upon request. Deadline for obituaries is 9 am Thursday  for publication in that week’s edition of The Newtown Bee.

A FREE death notice listing only for those who resided in Newtown/Sandy Hook at time of death is available by sending deceased’s name, place of residence, brief funeral information, and date of death to editor@thebee.com or delivering to the 5 Church Hill Road office no later than 9 am Thursday for publication in that week’s edition of The Newtown Bee.
Call 203-426-3141 with questions and ask for Shannon Hicks. The Newtown Bee reserves the right to edit obituaries for style.  Obituaries will be posted online as soon as they are copyedited.

Photographs: Suggestions for photographs should be directed to Managing Editor Shannon Hicks at 203-426-3141 or shannon@thebee.com. Reprints of photos taken by staff photographers are available for public purchase or perusal through The Bee’s online photo galleries, at photos.newtownbee.com

Religion: The newspaper’s religion section is coordinated by Managing Editor Shannon Hicks (203-426-3141 or shannon@thebee.com). Worship Notes are offered in each week’s print edition, while religious features are offered in print and often online. Deadline for each week’s Religion pages is noon Tuesday.

School News: The weekly Education section of The Newtown Bee provides school news of student accomplishments and events. Announcements and submissions for the Education section are due by noon Tuesday for that week’s print edition.

Sports: General sports information should be received in The Bee’s offices by noon Tuesday to be included in Friday’s paper. All submissions should be typed or legibly printed and include a phone number in case clarification is required. Brief items may be phoned in to Sports Editor Andy Hutchison, at 203-426-3141, or e-mailed to AndyH@thebee.com.

How To Send A Press Release

The Newtown Bee depends on those contributing information for publication to provide both correct and complete details, in a timely fashion, so that the paper can provide the exposure it requires with enough lead time for readers to both take notice, and to plan to respond — especially if the notice involves a dated activity.

Notifications should be submitted as far in advance of any activity as possible.

Receiving notices less than two weeks out from a dated event provides little opportunity to promote it, and little time for readers to plan to respond to or attend activities being advertised in the release. 

A flyer is not a press release and may not contain all details needed to communicate information. Please keep press releases to the point: who, what, when, where, and briefly why. Include pertinent contact information for readers, as well as contact information should editors have questions (daytime phone, e-mail, website information).

Press releases are written in the third person, with full sentences and paragraphs (not segments, and no bulleted lists), and should not include question marks or exclamation points unless part of a direct quote.

Excessive descriptors will be edited down for space or completely out, depending on available space. Double check that dates, days and times are accurate, as well as spellings of names before submitting a press release. Check that hyperlinks are accurate.

Press releases are to be submitted within the body of an email or (preferably) as a Word document attached to an email.

Do not submit PDFs or cloud/Google links.

Photos submitted with a press release must include identification of any people in photograph, from left to right, first and last names, as well as any other information as to when, where photo was taken, and photographer’s name. Photos appear as space permits. Photos should be kept in color, in .jpg format, and as large as possible. Photos that are too small will not reproduce well in our print edition and will be rejected.

Please see above listings for deadlines for the various Newtown Bee sections, as well as the appropriate editor to receive a press release; or submit to editor@thebee.com, subject line Press Release and indicative of event.

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Subscriptions: Subscriptions to The Newtown Bee are $50 per year, $86 for two years, or $200 for five years; student and 6-month subscriptions are also available, for $40. To subscribe or to report problems with mail deliveries, call 203-426-3141 and ask to speak to someone in Circulation, or send email to subscriptions@thebee.com.

For information on our sister publication, Antiques and The Arts Weekly, the nation’s leading weekly publication on the antiques and the arts trade, also published by Bee Publishing Company, Inc., click here.

Commenting Online: The Newtown Bee monitors comments on its website and Facebook page. Inappropriate language, including use of symbols to replace letters in inappropriate words, GIFs/memes that are rude or subject to misinterpretation, and links to other websites are not allowed. Comments must be polite and nonconfrontational when referencing individuals. The Newtown Bee reserves the right to remove any comments.