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PING! UPDATE FROM HUFFPO!

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Thank you for joining the Tea Party reporting team.

Next week, on April 15, we need you to be inside the crowd taking photos and video, jotting observations, and using Twitter to give HuffPost readers the on-the-ground coverage of the Tea Party protests. Locate the event closest to you HERE (click on your state listed on the right side of the page).

Not everyone is a writer and not all people want to take photographs, which is why we have laid out four ways to be part of the team.

1) Pen and Pad Reporting: Each protest presents a unique story. We definitely want to know the basics: how many people were in attendance? Where there any prominent speakers, and what did they say? Which slogans did the crowds chant, and what did they paint on their signs? We’re also interested in understanding what kind of people showed up and why—so feel free to ask them if you feel comfortable doing so.

We are asking for dispatches of no more than 600 words. Email your report to submissions+teaparty@huffingtonpost.com by noon on April 16th. (Check out our reporting standards for further guidance.)

2) Picture the Protest: Take your camera and capture the best images from the gathering. Protest signs and banners make for good photographs, as do families and establishing shots of the entire crowd. Email your pics to photos@huffingtonpost.com. Incude your name, city, and state in the subject line and a brief description of each photo in the body of your email. For inspiration check out the slide show from the G-20 Pretest in London.

3) Film the Show: Some HuffPosters have already shown interest in filming their local Tea Party. We don’t have specific guidelines on video production, however we suggest that you edit your footage to less than five minutes in length and that you identify all interviewees. You can publish your video to YouTube and email us the link, or send your mpeg file to submissions+teaparty@huffingtonpost.com using YouSentIt.

4) Twitter the Facts: It’s impossible to give an exhaustive report in 140 characters, but Twitter’s short form is great for quickly getting across basic facts and observations. Using your cell phone or mobile device, you can “tweet” the approximate attendance or a choice quote. IMPORTANT: We’ll only see your tweets if you include #huff in ALL of your messages. Also, remember to include your city and state so that we know where you are. (Sign up for an account with Twitter here.)

If you have any questions, email submissions+teaparty@huffingtonpost.com.

Good luck,

Matt

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