HIGH COUNTRY NEWS SEEKS VIDEO AND AUDIO PITCHES

High Country News, a Colorado-based nonprofit newsmagazine, seeks pitches for compelling video and audio stories. High Country News has been around for over 40 years, and is known for its independent, in-depth, award-winning coverage of environmental, natural resource and cultural issues.

Our coverage area includes the 11 Western states: Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Occasionally we make forays into Alaska and the High Plains.

What we want:

We are looking for videographers and photographers who want to create videos or audio slideshows that include strong narrative storytelling elements for our website, www.hcn.org. We like character-driven stories, action, beauty and surprise.

We are also interested in animated videos that explain a science or policy process in a viewer-friendly way.

Most video pieces will fall in the range of 3-7 minutes, although we're open to series or longer stories.

We are also open to pitches for audio postcards, and narrated or non-narrated produced pieces – preferably sound rich – for our soon-to-be expanded monthly podcast, High Country Views. Additionally, we’re interested in collecting unique and unexpected sonic IDs from around the West. They need not all be “natural” sounds; just great, interesting sounds from our coverage area.

What we don't want:

We are not interested in TV-news style stories, talking heads or straightforward Q&As. We don't cover breaking news, and we don't want stories that everyone else is already covering.

Topics:

For the next year, we seek work in the following thematic areas, although pitches outside these topics that fit into High Country News’ core coverage areas, will also be considered. (See our website for examples of stories we run.)

How the "One Percent" shape the West, both positively and negatively.

Rich people aren't like you and me. They have a lot of power, and can use it for public benefit (consider Ted Turner's land conservation) or for private gain (land swaps giving wealthy individuals public lands in exchange for private parcels of sometimes questionable value). How are the One Percent shaping the West? Pitches in this vein could consider local and state politics, public lands, mega energy corporations and their influence, etc.

The post-Recession world, and where the West goes now.

The housing boom is dead, and it’s not coming back. Poverty is rising. Unemployment is up. Median incomes are only rising in drilling boomtowns like Gillette, Wyoming. Only roughnecks and the super rich seem to have come out of the economic crisis somewhat unscathed. Post-recession, are individuals and communities rebuilding their economies? How? Stories within this topic could include place and character profiles of economic successes — and failures.

Lessons for the West from the rest of the world.

Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin has seen remarkable water reform in recent years in response to a long and devastating drought. European cities have solved growth and transportation problems that Western cities can’t seem to get a handle on. What can Western communities learn from these parts of the world and other grappling with the same issues we do? Possibilities include on-the-ground stories of Western localities learning from the wide world around them, or even stories from abroad that have particular relevance for the American West.

How developments in science and technology are changing what we know about wildlife and landscapes

From advances in genetics to mechanical advances in wildlife tracking and equipment, scientists are always learning more about flora and fauna. Is that knowledge helping land managers make better decisions? This topic might lend itself to explanatory animations, or documentary-style stories about quirky, innovative scientists and charismatic wildlife.

Restoration science grows up.

The West is full of degraded landscapes. The science, social science and collaborative relationships necessary to restore them may be coming into its own. And more ambitious projects are constantly being attempted. Stories in this vein might track new work; longstanding efforts implementing promising, innovative techniques in landscapes that have been seen as all but lost; profile scientists on the cutting edge of their field; cover innovative work or surprising new political alliances in communities in iconic environments that are allowing restoration work to progress to new heights. Restoration stories seem to easily fall into the trap of all sounding the same; be careful to tell us why yours is surprising among all those others out there, or how the characters driving it will give an old story new life.

Large-scale environmental change and how it hits home.

From climate change to the rapid pace of new energy development, massive environmental transformations are already underway in the West and are expected to become even more pronounced in the future. How are these transformations changing how individuals and communities work and interact with the land?

Whom we'll work with:

Anyone with passion for a story and the desire to tell it through video or sound. We encourage students and new producers to pitch us; while we consider experience when making decisions, we're mostly interested in the quality of your idea and how well it fits our needs.

We don’t have a set-in-stone pay scale. If your pitch is accepted, compensation will be negotiated based on experience and project scope. Our budget is small, however, so if you're a major video producer looking for $15,000 for an 8-minute doc, we're not the publication for you.

If you're already working on a documentary project and think a segment of it might fit our needs, pitch us, and maybe we can support you with travel funding and a payment for the clips we use.

Like most underfunded nonprofits, we love collaboration, and are open to working with existing institutions or news organizations.

Please send inquiries to multimedia@hcn.org with a subject header of "Multimedia story query."

Please feel free to share this call for pitches. While our network runs far and deep (we are reporters, after all) there are likely amazing multimedia journalists who didn't receive this note. Feel free to send it along to them.

Making Contact Producer (part-time) Work Location: Oakland, CA

more info at www.radioproject.org

Making Contact /National Radio Project seeks a part-time (20 hours/week) radio producer with a passion for public-interest community media, to create a world where peace and social justice are paramount.

National Radio Project is a nonprofit media organization that produces the weekly, nationally syndicated, progressive radio series Making Contact. Our high quality public-affairs and documentary radio programs are broadcast on 139 radio stations in the U.S., Canada, and South Africa; thousands more listen via our website and podcasts. Our award winning work has been recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists Northern California Chapter, among others.

We seek an energetic, passionate, organized team-player with solid experience. The candidate should understand the craft of long-format feature production as well as the art of a good in-depth interview. The candidate will also be able to work efficiently on quick turn-around program segments. Our program is a blend of evocative stories with analysis, and explores the relationship between individuals, groups and systems. We vary our program format from week to week from sound rich docs to straight-ahead compelling speeches. We’re looking for someone committed to our greater mission and who is willing to do whatever it takes to produce our weekly show and to strengthen Making Contact as a whole.

National Radio Project /Making Contact is more than a radio program. We thrive on the participation of volunteers and interns. We train community members in radio production as possible while meeting deadlines. We seek someone who can mentor others and is excited about growing and learning in their own work. We’re looking for a journalist who respects the knowledge of community members, social movement activists and academics in helping to conceptualize and create pieces that inform, inspire, and move people to take action.

Required Skills/Experience

Demonstrated writing and script editing skills

Demonstrated audio editing skills

Strong voice-craft skills and experience

Track record of journalistic work –dedicated to fairness, accuracy and fact-checking

Ability to read and synthesize research

Familiarity with issues of our times and timeless issues

Track record of delivering pieces on deadline (even if it means it's not "everything you want it to be"

Commitment to building Making Contact as a whole, and to participating in a team process

Willingness to participate in fundraising

Preferred Skills

Experience coaching and editing freelance reporters and producers

Multimedia experience:  video, sound-slides, YouTube etc

Familiar with social marketing and online media distribution

Experience and enthusiasm for online distribution methods and audience building

Sense of humor

National Radio Project / Making Contact is an affirmative action employer. We actively recruit applications from women, people of color, LGBTQ folks, and people with disabilities. 

Submit app ASAP. Position Open Until Filled. Please email resume, cover letter, writing sample (radio script preferred) and links to work samples to lrudman@radioproject.org

Latino USA is looking to fill 1 or 2 positions right now. Preferably, we’d love it if you already live in New York, but if you don’t, that’s OK, too. We can still talk about the possibilities. At this point, we’re determining whether these positions are FT or PT, but if either of the below descriptions interests you, then please get in touch with us and specify what you’re looking for.

AUDIO ENGINEER:
• Have expert knowledge and operational skills in digital audio production using in-house software-editing platforms. We use Pro Tools and Final Cut.
• Must have extensive production skills with a demonstrated ability to record and mix sound content
• Extensive knowledge of microphones, multi-track and broadcast consoles and audio storage media and archiving
• Must understand equalizers, compressors, limiters, de-esser’s, AD/DA converters and mic pre-amps
• Ability to troubleshoot and problem solve local and remote networks and modern personal computer hardware
• Establish and monitor any equipment necessary for two-ways and in-house interviews including ISDN, T1/E1, IP Network
• Collaborate closely with managing editor, show host and producers to accommodate a productive and creative broadcast environment
• Creates, maintains and disseminates a variety of production and broadcast logs and reports that address technical issues, helps to solve those problems and works with team to constantly ensure we have the best sound quality for the show

PRODUCER:
• Work closely with managing editor and host
• Develop sources in the field and maintains excellent working relationships
• Identify and research stories, characters and background for stories
• Develop creative and innovative editorial approach to stories
• Conduct original reporting and interviews on-location, around the country and across the globe
• Write scripts and promos for broadcast
• Field produce the host and write interview questions along with other show segments
• Help with editorial framing and planning of show based on world events, production calendar and upcoming events
• Book, produce and edit host interviews
• Create, produce and develop regular show segments
• Must know how to edit audio, pull bites, and schedule studio time
• Write introductions and prep stories for broadcast, internet and other platforms
• Direct the show as needed, create rundowns, select music, coordinate fixes with engineer and help manage LUSA archives
• Help maintain web page and assist with social media activities
• Collect information from identified content sources for posting to the web
• May be required to support host, including travel logistics, and direct work of interns
• Familiar with studio and field recording, and gathering multi-media materials, including digital photography
• Knowledge of Latino issues, both in the U.S. and abroad, and understanding of issues affecting communities of color

WORK ENVIRONMENT:
A casual environment that encourages collaboration, creativity and interaction.

The Futuro Media Group highly values diversity in our workplace and will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of age, race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, marital status, gender or sexual orientation.

TO APPLY FOR THIS POSITION:
Submit cover letter and résumé and writing & audio links to:
trubio@futuromediagroup.org. Must include job title in the subject field or it could get lost. No phone calls, please. Thank you!

It'd be terrific if you speak Spanish too, but it's not necessary.

If you're interested, please contact me and I'll give more details.

Cheers!
Tena
NPR's Latino USA
Managing Editor/Senior Producer
trubio@futuromediagroup.org

This past summer, LUSA launched a new sound-rich environmental series called RadioNature. The goal of the series is to uncover and tell stories about diverse communities interacting with nature and celebrating the outdoors.

We’re looking for sound-rich story driven pieces or first person environmental diaries or audio postcards. The segments will run throughout the year, so we're looking for stories that span the seasons.

FYI — We’re not looking for pure environmental justice stories, but if EJ themes occur naturally in your story, we’re all for it.

So, if you have a story you want to tell and you think it fits into our RadioNature series, then please send an email to pitches@futuromediagroup.org.

We’re looking to assign right away. If you send a pitch, please be as detailed as you can.

Saludos,
Tena

Tena Rubio
Latino USA
Managing Editor/Senior Producer