Originally Posted by
Artkansas
So I wrote up the first draft, just laying down everything and came up with a 5,000 word article.
It's fairly common to overshoot like that. At least you now have material to work from. Put it aside and use it as fodder for a second draft.
This is a general paper. I asked the editor what the demographics were and he responded 'People who read'.
Newspaper, right? IMHO, assume that your reader is not a died-in-the-wool cylist. Consider falling back on the tried-and-true: who, what, when, where, why? Answer those questions. Keep the article short and sweet. Stay factual. Don't editorialize. You'll probably come out good.