Philip Merrill College of Journalism | University of Maryland

The Do’s and Don’ts for
Putting a Clip Packet Together

Only put your story on the page. A hiring editor does not want to have to hunt for your work. And why would you want someone else’s writing competing against yours in a clip packet?
Cut out the masthead and include it on the page. That identifies the paper and pulls the reader into the piece. Be sure to include your headline and the jump. The jump will identify where it appeared in the paper, if it isn’t obvious.
Don’t write notes or make corrections on the clip.
Do not reduce the size to make it fit. Sad but true: Many hiring editors may have weak eyes (don’t tell them I said that.) If they have to strain to read the print, trust me, they won’t.
Your clips must fit nicely on a 8-by-11½ or an 11-by-17 sheet that can be folded in half with your story on the outside. Do not use 8-by-14 paper. Do not submit tearsheets, cut-outs or awkward sizes. They look sloppy, don’t present well and become tattered or torn. If a hiring editor has to unfold a lot of paper to read your work, he won’t. He’s got too many other applications on his desk to bother.
Make sure your clip can be read clearly. If the color ad on the other side of the newspaper clip bleeds through in the Xerox version, then place a piece of black construction paper behind the clip and make another copy.
A clip should be a copy of a newspaper article, not a printout from a Web site. Why? Because a copy from the newspaper will show the kind of play the story received, and not all Web stories make it into the paper.
Include a variety of stories that demonstrate a range of reporting – spot news, take-out or investigative pieces and soft features.