upcoming opportunites with Above the Fray, UnFictional, and CBC’s How To Do It

If you work in public media and you're not yet an AIR member, you should be. (And I don't work for them, I'm just a member and a big fan.) A slew of opportunities have popped up on their listserv recently. Here are a few with upcoming deadlines. Go for it! -Mia

1) The Above the Fray fellowship deadline is July 1, 2014
Learn more about the fellowship's history and requirements here: http://www.thejohnalexanderproject.org/apply.html

2) UnFictional is seeking pitches (topics: Spying/Eavesdropping, The Unreliable Narrator, The Phone Call). They are always looking for great stories outside the themes, too. (ongoing deadlines)


3) The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's radio show How To Do It: The Guide to Everything Else is looking for submissions for upcoming episodes. Deadline July 7, 2014.

How To Do It is a half hour radio show that explores how to do the things you never learned in school, by hearing from people who have lived through these situations. 

To get a sense of the tone of the show and the kinds of stories we like you can check past shows atwww.cbc.ca/howtodoit. The show puts a premium on surprising stories and unexpected interpretations of the theme. The tone is often tongue-in-cheek, cheeky, and humorous. Stories should have some amount of levity. At the same time, stories can still address serious topics. 

We are looking for approximately 5-7 minute radio stories based on the topics below. These could be stories you tell about yourself or pitches about people's stories where you would gather the tape. 

We are open to creative interpretations of the topics and any ideas for innovative use of tape to enhance the story telling. 

Please send a paragraph describing the story you would like to tell to streleaven@gmail.com 

We will pay CMG (Canadian Media Guild) rates ranging from $75-$500 depending on the nature of the submission 

  • *DEADLINE MONDAY JULY 7TH**

    HOW TO SELL OUT 
    We are looking for stories of people who ditch their values or moral integrity for some other end – fame, money, power, love. Or perhaps less enticing reasons – a free clock radio or praise from a superior. The more dramatic/amusing the about-face, the better. (Attention: priests who have become pimps.) Maybe the "sell-out" is deeply personal: you were a diehard vegan until you discovered smoked meat. What is your sellout threshold and how did you determine it? We want to hear how you were bought. 

    HOW TO LIVE IN CAPTIVITY 
    How have you survived captivity – whether it was doing time in a prison, on a cheesy cruise ship, or at a bad family reunion? We are looking for stories of being trapped, held hostage, or living in captive. We're open to both literal and figurative interpretations, and bonus points for both levity and any instructional component. 

    HOW TO SPEAK TO THE DEAD 
    Have you ever had a conversation with the dead? Perhaps you had an encounter with a ghost, participated in a seance or got a message from a Ouiji board? Or maybe you're haunted by someone long gone? Is there a ghost you just can't let go of. We want to hear about what haunts you, and how you dealt with it.

  • Deutsche Welle looking for freelancers

    Deutsche Welle (DW) is looking to expand their freelancer base, especially in Washington and London. Details and contact info below!

    +++++++++++++

    We are looking to expand our correspondent base for the website. We need freelance reporters who we can contact for both quick turnarounds of developing news stories as well as features. Though I'm focussed on making more contacts in Washington and London, I would also like to hear from people in capitals around the world. There are all too many places where we have gaps in our coverage.

    Please pass on the word and if you know of anyone who may be interested, ask them to contact me for more details. They should send a C.V. and samples of their work.

    This is a group mail, so please forgive me if you get it twice.

    All the best,
    Nancy

    Nancy Isenson
    Editor/Redakteurin
    Deutsche Welle (DW)
    Kurt-Schumacher-Straße 3
    53113 Bonn Germany

    Tel: +49 228 429-4058
    Fax: +49 228 429-4583
    nancy.isenson@dw.de

    News, analysis and service from Germany and Europe in 30 languages: http://www.dw.de/english

    Latino USA call for pitches

    Lots of great themes here. Send your pitches to Latino USA!
    ++++++++++++++++

    Here’s a list of the program themes that Latino USA is working up over the next few months. Along with the descriptions, I’ve also posted the air date of each show, in case you have ideas with particular time hooks. Please send pitches to: pitches@futuromediagroup.org.

     

    OUTDOOR ADVENTURE (ongoing)

    Get out there and have fun! If your outdoor adventure idea also has an element of environmental stewardship in it, all the better.

     

    ESCAPE (8/1/2014)

    Getting away, becoming free.

     

    GENIUS IS…(8/15/2014)

    Thomas Edison said it was 1 % inspiration and 99% perspiration. We’d like stories about working, tenacity, following a vision.

     

    SHOWTIME (9/12/14)

    Performance, celebrity, entertainment.

     

    ALLIES (9/19/2014)

    Unlikely friendships, strange bedfellows.

     

    LANGUAGES (9/26/2014)

    ‘Nuff said. (Or written.)

     

    THE FEAR OF…(10/3/2014)

    Stories about what scares you, and about overcoming fear.

     

    TARGETED (10/10/2014)

    From marketing to hunting.

     

    ISLANDS (10/17/2014)

    That can be literal (like stories from the Caribbean) or figurative (like isolation and/or breaking out of it).

     

    ELECTIONS (10/24/2014)

    Democracy, voter participation, voter suppression. (One example would be a story about the Texas lieutenant governor’s race.)

     

     

     

     

    Pitch to Snap Judgment! Latest theme list.

    Hey folks. Snap Judgment wants your stories!! Really, don't feel shy. They genuinely want to hear ideas from folks so even if you think you MAY have a good story, send it along. But please follow the guidelines below. Good luck!

    -Mia

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Greetings Snap Contributors,

     

    The time has come for another Snap Judgment themes list. 

     

    But before we get to that, a quick word on pitching the show.  In our last newsletter, we talked a little bit about the elements we’re looking for in a story (multiple scenes forming a narrative arc, a main character wrestling with a central tension, blah, blah, blah…), but we also want to give you a tip about how to pitch the story once you’ve found it.  And it’s actually a really simple trick.  Are you ready? 

    Good, cuz here it is: Don’t pitch us a public radio story. Pitch us a MOVIE.  

    A typical public radio pitch invariably describes what a story is broadly about, more often than not some kind of compelling concept; a movie pitch summarizes a sequence of events.  Give us the enticing premise, introduce the compelling characters, then describe the thing that sets the story in motion, the rising stakes, the unexpected development, the third act twist, and the ending that somehow feels unexpected and inevitable at the same time.  Okay, it doesn’t need all those things, but you get the idea.  

     

    Anything that sounds like a movie (or a short film) will definitely get our attention.   Because that’s what we do, we make cinematic stories that just happen to be audio-based — usually from a first person perspective.  And if you can’t pitch your story as a sequence of events?  Well, then, it probably wasn’t a Snap story in the first place.

     

    Okay, onto the themes:

     

    ***Any Really Good Story***

    We will never stop saying this.  If your story is amazing, it will make it on the air, theme or no theme.  In fact, consider the following themes inspiration, but do not take them as gospel.   

     

    ***The Forbidden Zone***

    Do you have a story about an abandoned island?  A radioactive wasteland?  A room that was off-limits growing up but which surely contained untold riches and magic?  It doesn’t even need to be a place per se; it could be realm of forbidden behavior, like the one thing everyone knows but which you’re not supposed to actually say out loud.  Think about it.

     

    ***Washed Up***

    Stories of people who are literally and figuratively washed up.  A shipwreck on a deserted island. A message in a bottle.  That one dog who somehow managed to escape all attempts to give her a bath, until one day.  Or just stories of people having an interesting experience in which they reach rock bottom. 

     

    ***The Leak*** 

    It's a leak in all senses of the word.   The water seeping through the hole or  the secret dying to get out.  It's the story of the whistle blower, the captain of the sinking ship, the instigator or the investigator.  Everybody is trying to contain it, but eventually it will all come out.

     

    ***The Duel***

    Face-offs. Grudge matches.  Rematches.  Stories in which someone goes toe-to-toe with an adversary in a weird and unexpected way and maybe discovers something about themselves in the process.          

     

    ***The Tortoise & The Hare***

    Stories in which someone achieves something by doing the opposite of what they’re supposed to.  Also, stories in which the a character is willing to plod away for a long, long time – despite criticism from naysayers – to get what he needs. 

     

    ***Viral / The Meme*** 

    Stories about ideas spinning out of control.  Gossip gone wild.  Youtube videos spawning Youtube videos.  A catch phrase that you’re absolutely sure you coined, but nobody believes you!  Perhaps someone tries to start a trend and fails.  Really, we’re just looking for an excuse to use the word “meme” as many times as possible.     

    ***Gaia***

    After a recent story meeting, we concluded that storytellers (truth-tellers) have failed to present Global Warming in a narrative sense that touches regular people.  Without a compelling story, we will continue to ignore the greatest catastrophe of our time.  We're looking for stories that bring home the truth what is happening to our world, our Earth, on a personal level.  We're not looking for earnest, boo-hoo pieces about an assaulted ecology, but stories that make personal what's going on without being preachy. 


    SNAP JUDGMENT FREELANCER INFO

    Do You Have A Mailing List?

    Yes.  Email pitches@snapjudgment.org and ask to be added.  We'll be trying to email people once a month with upcoming themes.

    Why Should I Pitch To Snap?

    1) We pay well.  $95/minute for your first three stories.  $105/minute after that.  We also give everyone a $250 kill fee.   And our stories are long (see next line).

    2) We give you time to tell your story.  The average Snap piece is now 8-15 minutes.  That means fewer editorial puppies being killed, and more time being spent on scoring and mixing each piece.

    3) Your story stands a very good chance of making it to air very quickly.  We have programming gaps for every single upcoming theme. That means if we like your pitch, we will not put it in a maybe pile for a year.  Once it's produced (provided it's not killed), it will in all likelihood be on the air shortly.

    4) You still own the story and can create your own director's cut. You can't sell something (say on PRX) that's too similar to what we did on the show, but you can always put your own version on your website or resume if you prefer.  If you make a story that's substantially different, you can sell it to anyone after we air our version.

    5) You can produce cool old stories with no pegs.  See next section!

    Where Can I Find Stories For Snap?

    Most people think they need to "stumble upon" a small, intimate, underground story for Snap Judgment.  This is simply not true.  Great stories can come from a newsletter, periodical, magazine, press release, obscure TV program, non-fiction book or documentary. If you have found ANY story with strong narrative elements which hasn't gotten too much press in the past few years and hasn't yet been turned into a radio piece (and one of the characters turns out to be a capable talker) you should pitch us.   Anytime you come across such a story, we are potentially interested.

    How Do I Know The Story Is Right For Snap

    1)    Is the story not just a story, but a tale?  In other words, does it have characters with wants and needs and hopes and fears, scenes that play out in a chronological order in which said characters make important decisions and discover new things, and some kind of central tension that gets resolved in an unexpected way over the course of a narrative arc?  If so, then it’s a tale, and we’re interested. 

    2)    Is the story cinematic?  In other words, will it provide us with scenes rich enough in detail that the listener can see events playing out in their mind’s eye?  Because we’re not interested in narratives in which things happen on an abstract level.   We want the listener to be transported to a specific time and place.   

    3)    Is there something new about it? Every Snap Judgment story needs to have an unexpected wrinkle, a new element, that makes the listener stop what they’re doing and pay attention.  Sometimes the new thing is just the fact that you’ve discovered a great talker, but nine times out of ten it’s a unique premise or plot element. If we feel like we’ve heard this one before (maybe not this precise story, but something super similar) we’ll probably pass.    

     

    How Should I Structure My Pitch?


    There's actually a really simple trick to this: Don’t pitch us a public radio story. Pitch us a MOVIE.  A typical public radio pitch invariably describes what a story is broadly about, more often than not some kind of compelling concept; a movie pitch summarizes a sequence of events.  Give us the enticing premise, introduce the compelling characters, then describe the thing that sets the story in motion, the rising stakes, the unexpected development, the third act twist, and the ending that somehow feels unexpected and inevitable at the same time.  Okay, it doesn’t need all those things, but you get the idea. Anything that sounds like a movie (or a short film) will definitely get our attention.   Because that’s what we do, we make cinematic stories that just happen to be audio-based — usually from a first person perspective.  And if you can’t pitch your story as a sequence of events?  Well, then, it probably wasn’t a Snap story in the first place.

    Whom Should I Pitch To?


    Send your pitches to the same address: pitches@snapjudgment.org.  It will be read by either Joe Rosenberg or Anna Sussman — we are both content producers for the show, and we try hard to provide constructive criticism when a pitch shows promise but misses the mark.  We also try to get back to everyone, even with a pro forma rejection just to let you know, within 2 weeks of your initial email.  NEVER BE AFRAID TO PITCH US AGAIN AFTER A REJECTION.   You can send us nine terrible pitches in a row, but if we like the tenth one, 

    we're going to want to produce it.

    CBC’s “How To Do It” wants 5-7 minute stories

    Great opportunity from the CBC. Thanks to AIR for the heads up!
    +++++++++++++++

    The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's radio show How To Do It: The Guide to Everything Else is looking for submissions for upcoming episodes.

    How To Do It is a half hour radio show that explores how to do the things you never learned in school, by hearing from people who have lived through these situations.

    To get a sense of the tone of the show and the kinds of stories we like you can check out last year's series www.cbc.ca/howtodoit

    We are looking for approximately 5-7 minute radio stories based on the topics below. These could be stories you tell about yourself or pitches about people's stories where you would gather the tape.

    We are open to creative interpretations of the topics and any ideas for innovative use of tape to enhance the story telling. But our show really puts a premium on surprising and unexpected stories — think about ordinary people living through extraordinary situations.Please be sure the story has a clear beginning, middle and end.

    Please send a paragraph describing the story you would like to tell to streleaven@gmail.com

    We will pay CMG (Canadian Media Guild) rates.

    How To Deal With People You Hate
    We want to hear stories about how you've dealt with people you loathe – a colleague, a public figure, a random stranger. What lengths have you gone to avoid them, punish them, reconcile with them? How have you managed to go about your life when it requires interacting and confronting people you despise?

    How To Escape
    We're looking for your stories of escape, How have you broken free – either literally or figuratively? Maybe you broke out of prison or out of summer camp, or had to escape a failed vacation or family reunion, or cult.

    How to Keep a Secret
    Keeping your lips sealed can sometimes be easier said than done. We want to hear stories about how you've managed to keep a secret — and at what cost. Or maybe someone else let your secret out. How did your life change as a result? What happened when you got a burning secret off your chest or let it burn up inside you.

    NAM Launches Fellowship on Aging, deadline July 1

    $1500 grants for stories about aging and health/healthcare for older Americans. Details HERE and below. -Mia

    NAM Launches Fellowship on Aging — Apply by July 1

    Journalists can now apply for the 5th annual Journalists in Aging Fellows Program offered by New America Media (NAM) and the Gerontological Society of America (GSA). We invite both ethnic media and general-audience reporters to apply by July 1, 2014.

    Selected 2014-15 Fellows will attend GSA’s 67th Annual Scientific Meeting in Washington, D.C., Nov. 5-9, and receive a $1,500 stipend. With major sponsorship from AARP, this year’s fellowship class will include 13 reporters, with one sponsored by the John A. Hartford Foundation.

    Fellows will produce an initial story stemming from research at the conference, plus a major in-depth piece or series in the following months. 

    For application details, click here
    A continuously updated list of stories from the fellows is available at www.geron.org/journalistfellows
     
    For more information:
    Paul Kleyman, NAM (415) 503-4170 ext. 133
    pkleyman@newamericamedia.org 
    Todd Kluss, GSA (202) 587-2839 
    tkluss@geron.org

    JCCF Open Call – A Day in the Life Project of a social worker, deadline July 1

    Interesting opportunity from the Journalism Center on Children & Families. $2500 grants for stories about social workers. Details here and below. Application deadline July 1.

     

     

      
    JCCF's motto is "Stories Can Change Lives." Perhaps that's why the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) wanted to partner with us on a project to find and tell stories about the ways in which social workers interact with children and families across the lifespan. 

    Journalists and social workers share many values in common. We listen. We observe. We ask questions. We try to understand. We document. We report what we see. We are professionals, bound by ethics and a commitment to the power of truth. 

     

    JCCF invites your pitches for stories that include a social work angle. Your story can be done in any medium: video, audio slide show, print with pictures, animation, graphics, etc. We will commission 12 stories from 12 reporters on a dozen topics in different parts of the U.S. If your story idea is selected, you will receive $2500 at the completion and delivery of your contracted content. Read more.  

    IRP media reporting trip to Ghana, deadline July 28

    More about the IRP and this fellowship HERE. Application deadline July 28. Go for it!


    The International Reporting Project (IRP) is now accepting applications for its new media reporting trip to Ghana on October 4-15, 2014

      

    This trip will focus on immunizations and child health in Ghana, particularly in light of the upcoming decisions to be made by the global community on replenishing the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) as it begins a new cycle for 2016 to 2020. 

     

    Photo: Terrie Schweitzer

    Ghana has made great progress in improving health care for its 25 million citizens. A healthy and growing economy, with one of Africa's highest annual GDP growth rates, has enabled the government in Accra to improve living conditions in many parts of the country.

     

    Yet challenges remain, particularly in smaller cities and rural areas where health care delivery is still difficult. At a time when many countries are examining their use of GAVI funds for immunization and their own commitments to funding worldwide immunization efforts, the case of Ghana presents a unique window to many of the issues being discussed in global forums. 

     

    This group trip is open only to applications from new media journalists, including media professionals, bloggers, influential social media practitioners and freelance contributors, who are citizens of the following nations: France, Germany, India, Japan, South Africa, United Kingdom and United States.

     

    All candidates must complete an application form and provide a detailed essay of at least 800 words describing the types of stories they might pursue during the Ghana trip.

      

    Learn more about the trip, read our frequently asked questions and apply for the Ghana trip by midnight on Monday, July 28!

    Media Ethics Blog

    I just learned about this fantastic resource on media ethics and law. Here's a note from the researcher, Nancy Hubbard:

    I researched and completed a list of 100 sites dedicated to Media Ethics and Journalism. I found all the most fun and informative blogs covering press organizations & societies, ethics blogs & expert media law information, law resources and news articles that anyone within the industry would find useful. You can see the list at http://journalismdegree.org/media-law-ethics/

    Spread the word to your fellow journos!

    -mia