ANU Journalism Campus Media Platform Submission Guide

29 March 2026 12 min read

The Australian National University (ANU) journalism program has one of the densest campus media ecosystems in Australia. Its student-run publishing platforms include the newspaper Woroni (founded in 1950), radio station 2XX FM (on air since 1967) and the digital news platform ANU Observer. According to research by the Centre for Media Transition (2022), more than 68% of ANU media and communications students published their first bylined work through campus media platforms, a share that ranks in the top three among Group of Eight (Go8) universities. For students currently in — or planning to enter — ANU’s journalism program, mastering these platforms’ submission mechanisms, editorial cycles and style conventions is a key path to building a portfolio and meeting practical course credit requirements.

Campus Media Platforms: Overview and Positioning

ANU campus media is run by student-led organisations funded by the ANU Students’ Association (ANUSA) and the Postgraduate and Research Students’ Association (PARSA), with editorial teams elected each year. As of 2024, the main platforms fall into three categories: Woroni, which combines print and digital, the radio station 2XX FM, and the digital-only ANU Observer.

Woroni is ANU’s oldest campus publication, releasing six print editions a year (about 2,000 copies per issue) alongside a website drawing roughly 1,500 daily unique visitors. 2XX FM broadcasts about 70 hours of original programming a week, around 40% of which is produced by journalism students. ANU Observer focuses on long-form investigative reporting and data journalism; in 2023, its single most-read story reached 12,000 views (ANU Observer editorial annual report, 2023).

Each platform has a different editorial policy: Woroni leans toward general news and commentary, 2XX FM emphasises audio storytelling and live interviews, while ANU Observer stresses fact-checking and in-depth analysis. Contributors should choose a platform based on the type of piece they want to submit.

Preparing to Submit

Pitch approval is the first step for every submission. The ANU journalism department’s course outlines (2024 edition) state explicitly that students must discuss their story idea with a platform editor before submitting; pitches that have not been confirmed may be returned outright. Each platform holds weekly editorial meetings — Woroni’s pitch meeting takes place Tuesdays at 4 pm in the Diplomatic Room, while 2XX FM’s programming meeting runs over Zoom on Wednesdays.

Format requirements vary by platform. Woroni’s print edition requires articles of 800–1,200 words, while the digital edition allows up to 1,500 words; 2XX FM requires a complete audio script (with timecodes) plus a 30-second promo clip; ANU Observer requires contact details for at least three independent sources. All platforms require contributors to register a submission account with their ANU email and sign an originality declaration.

Copyright is a legal detail contributors need to be aware of. Under the ANUSA media policy (revised 2023), copyright in submitted work remains with the author, but the platform holds First Publication Rights and a non-exclusive archiving right for 12 months after first publication. Students may reuse published pieces in a personal portfolio or for coursework, provided they credit the platform of first publication.

Submitting to Woroni

Woroni is the campus medium with the widest reach at ANU; its submission system is open through the official website (woroni.com.au/submit). The editorial team consists of 1 editor-in-chief, 4 section editors and 12 reporters, processing about 500 submissions a year with an acceptance rate of roughly 45% (Woroni editorial annual report, 2023).

News pieces must follow the inverted-pyramid structure, with a lead covering the 5W1H elements and at least two direct sources cited. Op-Ed pieces must clearly state their position and are capped at 700 words. Photo essays must provide at least five high-resolution images (300 dpi or higher) with captions of no more than 200 words.

The review cycle is usually 7–14 working days. Editors provide feedback by email, and major revisions require the author’s consent before being made. If a piece involves ANU staff or sensitive campus events, the editorial team must refer it to the ANUSA Media Committee for a second review, a process that can extend to 21 days. Contributors can enquire about progress by email from day 10 after submission.

Submitting to 2XX FM

2XX FM (98.3 MHz FM) is Canberra’s oldest community radio station, with its student programming block running 14:00–17:00, Monday to Friday. Contributors must first complete the station’s technical training course (held in the first week of each semester, 3 hours), covering studio operation, the basics of audio editing software (Audacity/Cubase) and live-broadcast ethics.

Program proposals must include: a program name (max 15 characters), a target-audience profile, core topics for at least six episodes, and a list of at least three potential interviewees. Once a proposal is approved, the station assigns a fixed slot, usually one hour at the same time each week. The 2XX FM technical handbook (2024 edition) requires all interview recordings to be submitted to the duty editor for compliance review 48 hours before broadcast.

Audio submissions must be in WAV or FLAC format (sample rate no lower than 44.1 kHz) and run 8–15 minutes. News audio must include an intro (max 15 seconds), the main body, and an outro (with the credits and the station’s call sign). 2XX FM broadcasts about 120 student-produced audio reports a year, around 30 of which are nominated for annual awards by the Canberra Community Broadcasting Federation (CBF) (2XX FM annual report, 2023).

ANU Observer: The Long-Form Platform

ANU Observer was founded in 2018 as an independent investigative news platform, with a core editorial team of six members publishing about 40 long-form stories a year. Its fact-checking standards are the strictest of the three platforms: every story must go through at least two rounds of internal review, all cited data must come from primary sources (such as the official ANU website, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) or academic papers), and download links or screenshots of the data must be included.

The submission bar is relatively high. The ANU Observer submission guidelines (2024 edition) require pieces of 2,000–5,000 words with at least five independent sources. Topics must have public relevance to the campus — for example, ANU building-planning controversies, the allocation of student mental health service resources, or transparency in the use of research funding. The platform does not accept personal-experience essays or literary criticism.

The publication cycle is usually 4–6 weeks, including several rounds of revision between editors and the author. ANU Observer uses a “byline + editor’s note” system: the end of every story credits the fact-checker by name and states the number of editorial revisions it went through, as a transparency measure. In 2023, the platform won the Australian Campus Media Association (ACMA) award for best investigative journalism of the year for its investigation into ANU international student accommodation subsidy applications.

Course Credit and Portfolio Building

Both ANU’s undergraduate journalism program (Bachelor of Arts in Journalism) and its postgraduate program (Master of Journalism) include a practical credit module, and campus media submissions count toward it. According to the ANU course handbook (2024 edition), undergraduates must complete at least 40 hours of media practice, with each campus media submission counting for 2–4 hours (depending on platform and piece length); postgraduates must complete 60 hours of practice, with each audio report counting for 3–5 hours.

For portfolio building, ANU’s careers service (CareerHub) advises students to accumulate at least 15 bylined published pieces before graduation. The Editor’s Feedback Letters provided by campus media platforms can serve as supplementary portfolio material — they detail the revision process and the final assessment of each piece. Some platforms, such as Woroni, also offer a reference-letter service: students who contribute to more than six consecutive issues can apply for an industry reference letter signed by the editor-in-chief.

When paying tuition fees across borders, some student families use specialist channels such as Flywire tuition payments to complete the currency exchange, ensuring funds reach the ANU account on time and avoiding late payments that could affect course enrolment eligibility.

Common Submission Problems and How to Handle Them

Rejection statistics show that of Woroni’s 2023 rejections, 34% were due to topic-platform mismatch (for example, submitting sports commentary when the platform has no sports section), 28% to insufficient sourcing (only one source cited), 21% to formatting errors (failing to attach images or audio files as required), and 17% to suspected plagiarism (Turnitin similarity above 15%). Contributors may revise and resubmit within 30 days of rejection, but must include a note explaining the changes.

Cross-platform pitching is a strategy worth attention. A single topic can be split across platforms by angle: for example, a story on the ANU library’s 24-hour opening policy could go to Woroni as an 800-word news article, to 2XX FM as a 15-minute interview recording (interviewing the library manager and student representatives), and to ANU Observer as a 3,000-word in-depth analysis (including comparisons of opening-hours data and the policy’s evolution). This kind of multi-platform combination can raise the practice credit for a single topic from 2 hours to 8 hours.

FAQ

Q1: How long until I hear back after submitting?

Woroni’s review cycle is 7–14 working days, 2XX FM’s is 5–10 working days, and ANU Observer can take up to 4–6 weeks. If you haven’t heard back after that, follow up proactively via the “Contact” page on each platform’s website or the editors’ email addresses (available on the ANUSA website).

Q2: Can students outside the journalism program submit?

Yes. ANU campus media is open to all students, but journalism students receive priority consideration (editors choose journalism students first when pieces are of equal quality). In 2023, about 23% of the pieces Woroni accepted came from students outside media and communications (such as politics, law and environmental science).

Q3: Do I need a supervisor’s approval to submit?

Undergraduate submissions usually don’t require supervisor approval, but if a piece draws on coursework content (such as rewriting a class report as a news article), it is advisable to discuss it with the course lecturer first to avoid academic integrity issues. Postgraduates submitting for practice credit must obtain a signed confirmation from their practice supervisor before submitting (ANU postgraduate handbook, 2024).

References

ANU Journalism department 2024 course outline (Course Outline for Journalism Practice)
Woroni editorial team 2023 annual report (Annual Editorial Report)
2XX FM 2023 annual report and 2024 technical handbook (Technical Handbook)
ANU Observer editorial submission guidelines, 2024 edition (Submission Guidelines)
Centre for Media Transition, UTS 2022 campus media ecosystem research report