DETROIT LAKES, Minn. — September 23, 2026 (Minnesota Nice News)
This publication started an open call this week for volunteer columnists, correspondents and photographers. More than two dozen sections are unfilled, from Church Hoppin to Fishing to Town Hall, and a writer may claim one with an email and a work sample.
Your community has stories that never make the regional wire: the new cafe on Main Street, a Friday night scoreboard, a quiet act of service at the food shelf, or the fellow who’s still talking about his first northern. Minnesota Nice News has beats open right now across Minnesota, and we want your town to have a reporter again, writing up the town chainsaw contest or the biggest catch on Cass Lake. Maybe you are a new journalism student, or an aspiring author with a first book out. Most importantly, we write nice news.
You don’t need a journalism degree to do this. You just need to know your town, your craft, your art, and care enough to write it down. Or maybe you know nothing at all and need the world to know it, as long as it is nice news. Whether you want to review a local food joint, break down a high school hockey matchup, introduce a neighbor’s new book or share a family hotdish recipe, there is a space here with your name on it.
For about a hundred years, every small paper in America ran a town correspondent, somebody who knew which church was having the supper and whose grandson made the varsity roster. Those were the best-read pages in the paper. They still resonate with me today.
And while we are asking: we would like to publish a Minnesota-based comic strip.
Who is being asked
The call is aimed at writing clubs, college and high school students, retirees, teachers, farmers, coaches and guides, and anybody rebuilding a résumé who wants published work under their own name.
No degree is required. One thing is: writers live in Minnesota.
Submissions must be original, unpublished, and written by a person. Work generated by artificial intelligence tools is not eligible, and photographs must be the writer’s own or used with the photographer’s written permission.
Your byline, your beat, your clips. Take them anywhere you go next. Build a resume.
Readers, from day one. Some of our pages reach thousands of readers every day, and a column lands in front of that audience the week it starts. This page is new. Building it is part of the work.
Columns here are volunteer. That is the trade, stated plainly, so nobody finds out later. We are looking for regular writers. Some assignments are paid; those are arranged case by case, in advance.
One piece a month makes you a columnist. Write more if you catch the bug. We would rather have a good column ten times a year than a thin one every Friday.
Most pieces run 400 to 1000 words. Photos are welcome. You file it, we edit it and check it against policy, and you see it before it publishes.
Events can be submitted at events@minnesotanicenews.com by the public, writer or not. Advertising and column sponsorship go to ads@minnesotanicenews.com.
Some of our developing categories
Around Town
- Church Hoppin, a different congregation each week: the service, the supper, the coffee afterward
- Resorts, lakes country cabins, campgrounds, guides and marinas, in season and out
- Table and Tavern Review, cafes, supper clubs, bars and food trucks. We publish reviews only of places we would recommend, which keeps this beat pleasant work
- Things To Do, the weekend, assembled
- Community Calendar, the workhorse. Festivals, fundraisers, powwows, bingo, craft sales, ice fishing contests
- On Stage Now, community theater, school plays, concerts, gallery nights, the polka circuit
Community Gossip
The friendly kind. Engagements, anniversaries, retirements, new babies, new dogs, a 40-pound northern and the fellow who is still telling us about it. Kind, true, and checked with the people in it. This column wants a writer who knows everybody and likes them.
The Great Outdoors
- Fishing, openers, ice-out, bite reports, tournaments, guides, and the one that got away
- Hunting, seasons, safety, deer camp, duck sloughs, first harvests
- Camping & Trails, state and national forest campgrounds, trailheads, portages, winter grooming
- Gardening, short-season everything: starts, frost dates, fair entries, what actually survives zone 3
- Nature, loons, eagles, wolves, wildflowers, northern lights, phenology week to week
Weather
Our regional sport. Ice-in and ice-out, first frost, blizzards, road conditions, and the July stretch when everybody complains about humidity.
Community Resources
Written by the people who do the work. If you run a program or staff a desk, this section was built for your column. We focus on helping others and growing together.
- Food Pantry, who is open when, what shelves are bare, how to give and how to get
- Legal Services, legal aid clinics, reentry programs, tenant questions, benefits paperwork, where free help lives
- Mental Health, services, support groups, warmlines, and the plain-language version of how to reach them
- Safe Shelters and Outreach, shelter beds, warming spaces, advocacy, street outreach
- Utilities, heat assistance, shutoff protections, water and power programs, seasonal deadlines
- Volunteer, who needs hands this week, what the shift is actually like, how to sign up
- Education and Literacy, tutoring and GED programs, adult basic education, library literacy work, scholarships and how to apply
News
- Business, who opened, who expanded, who hired, who finally got the sign fixed
- Health, clinics, health fairs, screenings, wellness programs, public health you can act on
- Sports, high school, youth leagues, tournaments, adult rec, the Friday scoreboard
- Town Hall, council and board decisions readers can act on: road projects, park plans, permits, meeting notices, public comment dates. The decision and its effect, without the politics
Obituaries
Written with the family, at the family’s pace, and never lifted from a funeral home listing. A careful writer with a steady hand is worth a great deal here.
One-off assignments
Not everyone wants a standing column. That is allowed. Event coverage, photo essays, The Questionnaire interview format, and seasonal one-offs; fish house season, sugar bush, harvest, the first snow. Try one piece before you take a beat.
How to pitch us
Spend ten minutes at minnesotanicenews.com and find the section you would want your name on. No, the page is not perfect, but is improving daily.
Then send one email to gregory@minnesotanicenews.com with:
- The section you want, from the list above or one you invent
- Two or three sentences on why it is yours to write
- The town you live in and how long you have been there
- A writing sample, published or not. A blog post, a school paper, a letter to the editor, a long Facebook post you are proud of
You will hear back within 5 days, either way. Use the form below if you have any questions.
The fine print, briefly
Everyone who writes for us signs our editorial ethics policy and works in AP style with our house rules on top. The standards come from the Associated Press Stylebook and the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics, adapted for a small paper covering the towns its writers live in.
More about who we are is on our About page.
The coffee is on and your town’s column is open. Write to us.
Writing By: Gregory Moyer | Editing by Jodi Moyer
EDITOR’S NOTE:
SOURCES:
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2026 — Minnesota Nice News LLC | minnesotanicenews.com is dedicated to sharing the stories, photos and experiences of the people who live in and love northern Minnesota. Content on this site includes original reporting by Minnesota Nice News as well as contributions from community members and links to outside sources. Views expressed in user-generated content are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Minnesota Nice News. We rely on contributors to stand behind the accuracy of what they submit.
