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Tell us immediately about breaking news

If you see a major fire, police emergency or power outage, call (360) 715-2260 or e-mail newsroom@bellinghamherald.com.

Charity fundraisers

If you are walking, biking or doing some other activity through part of Whatcom County to raise money or awareness for a cause, please fill our this form. These forms also are available at our office.


Covering your event

Representatives of community organizations who want to promote their events will be most successful if they understand editors must put the needs of readers - their customers - first. While editors seek to meet the needs of event promoters, size and placement of information is guaranteed only to advertisements. We are both most successful when we work together. We try to be fair in our allotment of space and staff resources, but the more information we have, the better job we can do. News value is related to distinctiveness, information and what else happens that day. You may be our only source of information about your event. Timely, accurate information is vital to our ability to promote and cover events.

Always put your information in writing. Mail it to The Bellingham Herald at P.O. Box 1277, Bellingham, WA 98227 or fax it to (360) 756-2826 or e-mail to newsroom@bellinghamherald.com. If you’re sending a press release to a particular reporter, it’s a good idea to copy their editor, just in case the reporter is out for the day. Timely news might need to be given to another reporter. For event notices, address the information to the feature where you want it to appear, such as Almanac or Business Notes, as people and their duties often change in newsrooms.

Check your information before you send it. Incorrect or incomplete information confuses us and slows us down. We may miss a deadline for ticket sales while attempting to call you to find out what time the show starts.

Present information in a legible manner. If you cannot type, please print neatly. If we have to call you to clarify something, timely placement of the item may not be possible.

Always send your information to the main office. Columnists, advertising and marketing staff work separately and your information may not get to the news department in a timely manner.

Here's what we need to know:

  • Type of event
  • Sponsoring organization
  • Name and number of person readers should contact for information. This name and number will be published in the newspaper and posted online.
  • Name and number of person to contact BEFORE the event
  • Name and number of person to contact AT the event
  • Day of event
  • Date and time of event
  • Location of event (please give exact address and directions if necessary)
  • Estimated number of participants
  • Why readers will be interested in this event
  • Specifics of event


You need not write an article. We adhere to certain styles for each type of feature and will probably rewrite your information anyway. If you must write the information out, be sure to check to make sure all the information is included.

Sometimes a call is appropriate after you have submitted information in writing. The best time to call is after 9 a.m. and before 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Call the news assistant at 715-2260 if you have general questions or wonder if information has been received or when a brief or listing will appear. If you have sent information and you believe it's something a news reporter might attend, call the appropriate editor. Bellingham Herald Directory

The more time you give us to plan, the happier you will be with the publicity and coverage. In general, we need information at least two weeks before you want an item to be printed. For your biggest event, please give us notice of six weeks. This will give us time to work together.

There are many places information might appear. Please do not send the same information more than once unless there is new information.

In general, submitted event items will run once. Preference is given to local events. Stories written in advance of events and events coverage are assigned by the editors based on importance to our readers. While we do not take set-up advance photos, we will take photographs of people in our studio to accompany news items. If you choose to submit a photo, keep in mind that people's heads need to be at least the size of a quarter to be usable.

If we were not able to attend your event this time, maybe we will be able to attend next time. Resources are different every day. How much space we have affects how much information we can print. How many people we have working on a given day, what else is happening, etc. play a part in what we are able to cover.
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