Get featured in Bucks Free Press

To get featured in the Bucks Free Press, you need a story that matters to people in High Wycombe and the towns and villages around it. You can send news to the newsroom yourself, write a letter for the readers' pages, or have a feature developed and placed with professional help. Whichever route you choose, the local angle comes first, because that is what the paper exists to cover.

Sending a story in yourself is free, but it is slow, many submissions never appear, and the editors decide what runs and when. DNA offers another way in: we develop the story with you, write it to the Bucks Free Press standard, manage the placement, and you approve every word before it goes live.

What the Bucks Free Press is

The Bucks Free Press is a long-established local newspaper and news website for High Wycombe and south Buckinghamshire. It is part of Newsquest, one of the largest regional news publishers in the UK, which runs local titles across the country. The paper has served the area for well over a century, and its website now carries the day-to-day news, live updates and features alongside the print edition.

What the Bucks Free Press covers

The site is built around local news for High Wycombe, Marlow, Beaconsfield and the surrounding towns and villages. That means council decisions, planning and development, crime and court cases, roads and transport, schools, health services and community life. It also covers local business, what's on, and sport from grassroots clubs to Wycombe Wanderers, along with family announcements and obituaries. Readers' letters and comment give residents a place to argue about local issues.

How to get featured in the Bucks Free Press

For news coverage, start by reading the site for a week or two. Bylines show which reporters cover councils, courts, business or sport, and that tells you who is most likely to be interested in your story. Then send a short, plain note with the facts: what has happened, who is involved, where in the area it is and why local readers should care. Include a named contact who can answer questions quickly, and offer good photographs if you have them.

A local paper works on local relevance. A Marlow business opening a second site, a Wycombe charity marking a milestone or a resident with an unusual story stands a much better chance than a national announcement with a Buckinghamshire office mentioned at the end.

How to submit a story to the Bucks Free Press

The Bucks Free Press, like other Newsquest titles, invites readers to send in news, pictures and stories, and it lists the route for doing so on its site along with contact details for the newsroom. Use that route rather than guessing at addresses, and check it for current guidance before you send anything. In general terms, a submission works best when it:

• Leads with the news in the first line rather than background about your organisation.
• Names real people and real places in the High Wycombe area.
• Is timely, sent before or as something happens rather than weeks afterwards.
• Comes with clear, good-quality photographs you have the right to share.

Letters for the readers' pages follow a similar logic: one clear point about a local issue, written plainly and kept brief.

What makes a strong story for the Bucks Free Press

The strongest stories have a clear local stake. A founder explaining how a new contract will bring jobs to the town, a dental or medical practice responding to a change in local health services, or a property firm involved in a major development all fit, because readers can see how it affects them. Human detail matters too: a named person, a place readers know and a reason to care now. Press releases written for trade magazines rarely fit as they are. If you are weighing a local title against a national one, the guide to tier 1 vs tier 2 publications explains how they differ in reach and purpose.

How the process works

With DNA, the work runs in four steps. First, we look at whether your story has a genuine High Wycombe or south Buckinghamshire angle, and we tell you plainly if it does not. Second, you share the substance: what you do, what has changed and why it matters locally. Third, we draft the feature to the Bucks Free Press standard and revise it with you until it is right. Finally, once you have approved every word, we manage the placement and send you the live link.

How long it takes

Expect weeks rather than days. Finding the right angle, drafting, your review and the placement itself all take time, and a story tied to a local event or council decision needs planning well ahead.