Latino USA call for pitches

From the lovelies at Latino USA.

Latino USA has the following themed shows in the pipeline:

 

Report Card (5/23/14) —Stories about education, but also discussions about how things are going in terms of Latino issues.

 

Push It (5/30/14) —Drugs, people, and limits.

 

Pretending (6/6/14) —Stories about make-believe, fraud, lies, and making it up.

 

Move It (6/13/14) —Migration, physical activity, and fast-paced situations.

 

Kids (6/20/14) —Stories both tragic and fun involving children.

 

Innovation/Inspiration/Tech (6/27/14) – Stories and conversations about Latinos innovating, particularly in the tech field, and barriers to Latinos within that field.

 

My Country (7/4/14) —Stories of patriotism and American identity…however you define American.

 

The show is looking for pieces that include people’s personal stories, lots of ambient sound, lively writing and unexpected twists.


The pay rate is $125 per minute plus $25 for a photo for the web site.


Please send your pitches directly to: pitches@futuromediagroup.org.


Pitch meetings are on Fridays, and we try to respond to all queries by early the following week.

PRX’s STEM Story Project Returns

Funding available for STEM-related radio stories. Initial details below and more to come!
-mia
Hi producers!

In case you haven't heard yet, PRX is excited to announce a second round of our STEM Story Project.

We are holding another open call for radio stories inspired by STEM topics. Last year, we funded 16 story proposals and helped get them on major stations and national programs. We also helped find placement for them on reputable blogs and digital platforms.

Read about it and get our FAQ here:
http://blog.prx.org/2014/04/prxs-stem-story-project-2-0/

To find out more and ask questions, sign up for the webinar on April 30th at 2pm ET:
https://cc.readytalk.com/r/qwxyni95j7xt&eom

Applications will open May 5, 2014. The DEADLINE for applications is May 27, 2014 at 11:59PM ET.  Stay tuned to blog.prx.org or #PRXSTEM on Twitter for the application link.

Thank you!

The PRX STEM Team

Self-publishing workshop May 12, 7pm, SF

FYI – from the folks at the Freelancer's Guild.

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

Book editor and designer Bonnie Britt is back by popular demand for a how-to on self-publishing in print and digital formats. Be there at 7 pm, Monday, May 12 at the Pacific Media Workers Guild offices, 433 Natoma St., as Bonnie live demos wrangling a manuscript into an ebook that may be uploaded for sale at as many online stores as you wish! Free to members, $10 for others. Please RSVP to reserve space: freelance@mediaworkers.org


Send advance questions to editing.and.design@gmail to ensure yours will be answered.

Upcoming events at the UC Berkeley J-School

The latest from the UC Berkeley J-School.

Suzanne Franks | Women and Journalism

When:  Tuesday, April 29,  5:30 p.m.

Where:  North Gate Hall Library

RSVP here.

In many countries, the majority of high profile journalists and editors remain male. Although there have been considerable changes in the prospects for women working in the media in the past few decades, women are still noticeably in the minority in the top journalistic roles, despite making up the majority of journalism students.

Suzanne Franks looks at the key issues surrounding female journalists – from onscreen sexism and ageism to the dangers facing female  foreign correspondents reporting from war zones. She also analyses the way that the changing digital media have presented both challenges and opportunities for women working in journalism and considers this in an international perspective. 

Her recent report for the Reuters Institute of Journalism (Oxford University) 'Women and Journalism' examines why women in many countries are not fulfilling their promise in the media and in newsrooms. [MORE]

Groundtruth and Airwaves: Sensor Networks and Emerging Technology for Environmental Journalism Symposium

When: Wednesday, April 30, 1:00-5:00 p.m.

Where: Banatao Auditorium, Sutardja Dai Hall

Presented by: Internews' Earth Journalism Network and CITRIS (Center for Information Research in the Interest of Society)

“Groundtruth and Airwaves” will showcase a number of newsworthy environmental and health-related sensor projects currently underway. After a session of Lightning Talks, working journalists from around the world will join a panel of technology experts and research scientists to explore opportunities and challenges found at the nexus of DIY sensors, crowdsourced data, and environmental and health journalism. What are the implications of new technology for the future of journalism? What role does crowdsourced data play in creating new media narratives about our environment? Are sensors really making a difference for journalism and news production, or are technology tools and platforms limited to the domain of research scientists and the most tech-savvy news organizations? [MORE]

Advanced registration is required http://groundtruthandairwaves.eventbrite.com

THE SUN NEVER SETS: A documentary film about a small-town newspaper

When:  Thursday, May 8,  5:30 p.m.

Where:  North Gate Hall Library

Filmmaker Ben Daitz will appear in person for a post-screening Q&A. 

Written, produced, and directed by Ben Daitz and narrated by Bob Edwards

Smithsonian Magazine once asked the rhetorical question, “Can a weekly paper in rural New Mexico raise enough hell to keep its readers hungry for more, week after week?”

The Rio Grande Sun, published in Española, New Mexico, is considered one of the best weekly Newspapers in the country. Bob Trapp, the Sun's founder, editor, and publisher, is the quintessential newspaperman—the last of a vanishing breed—a scrupulously honest, fearless, independent journalist, and a mentor to generations of young reporters.

The Sun is known for investigative reporting. The paper broke the story that its own rural community had the highest per capita heroin overdose rate in the country. It has led the fight for open records and open meetings in a county where political shenanigans are the rule.

The film follows the Sun’s reporters and editors as they write about the news, the sports, the arts, and the cultures of a large, rural county.  John Burnett, National Public Radio correspondent, reports on the Sun's Police Blotter—“the best in the country.” The Sun's journalists investigate the largest embezzlement in the state's history, and the widespread use of tranquilizers in the county jail.

Ben Daitz is a physician, writer, and award-winning documentary filmmaker. His work has been shown and honored by PBS, American Public Television, multiple film festivals, and Emmy nominations. Ben is a contributing writer for the New York Times, and has written for the Atlantic Magazine. His novel, Delivery, is published by the University of New Mexico Press.

Freelance Cafe West meetup TONIGHT, April 28, 6:30pm, Berkeley

Freelance Cafe West meeting TONIGHT!! April 28, 6:30pm, Berkeley. Details and contact info below. Be there!
+++++++++++++++++

Hey friends, 

Hoping to see many of you tonight at Luisa's pad for another surely excellent installment of Freelance Cafe. Freelancing friends and family welcome! If anyone needs to carpool from Bart let me know! (207) 807 6152
Ana
2374 Eunice St., Berkeley CA
6:30-8:00 PM


freelancecafe.org
facebook.com/freelancecafe
@freelancecafe

call for NYC-related pitches from Gothamist

Gothamist is looking for pitches about life in NYC. Thanks to Will Coley for the heads up!

http://gothamist.com/2014/04/23/freelance_writing.php

Gothamist is expanding and deepening our coverage of New York City, and we're paying.

We want original, compelling, heartbreaking, funny, enraging, enlightening work, written clearly and with an eye towards stories that cut through the dull hum of the internet—stories that help the reader better understand New York City and the people living in it. It should not have been published anywhere else in print or online. Here are some recent examples.

A well-sourced, 1,500-word indictment of governmental incompetence is just as welcome as a 500-word profile of the rat-slaying building super who listens to Van Halen while on the hunt. We want the gems buried at the bottom of Kafka-esque municipal board meetings and the life-affirming acts of kindness often obscured by the relentless crush of humanity; the joys of working for a dog-walking marijuana delivery service and the hazards of donning a Santa suit at Saks Fifth Avenue.

You should be as excited writing or pitching your story as we are reading it. The only thing we don't want (at the moment) is fiction. Pay depends on experience, quality, and length. Please go here to share a submission or pitch. (Due to the high volume of pitches we receive, we regret that we are unable to reply to every submission.)

JCCF fellowship and scholarship for reporting on poverty, deadline May 31

The Journalism Center on Children and Families announces a new fellowship for professional journalists and a scholarship for students. Deadline May 31. Details HERE and below.

V

 

JCCF presents a new opportunity for emerging and established journalists to get funding for their reporting.The 2014 Equal Voice Journalism Fellowship and Scholarship Program, sponsored by the Marguerite Casey Foundation, aims to increase the public's understanding of poverty in the U.S.

 

Professional journalists can apply for an Equal Voice Journalism Fellowship which provides a $4000 reporting stipend plus up to $1000 in travel reimbursement. College-enrolled student journalists may apply for the Equal Voice Journalism Scholarship which offers $1000 and up to $800 for travel. Read more

Snap Judgment’s Upcoming Themes

Call for pitches (and what makes a good story) from Snap Judgment. They get it. Now go for it. -Mia

+++++++++++
 Lots of freelancers have been asking us what makes
a story right for Snap Judgment, and I think I can boil it down to
three criteria:

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 is a tale, and we are
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.

Another litmus test, that perhaps sums up all three of the above
points, is: would your pitch make a good fictional story that just
happens to be true?  Sometimes people think Snap Stories are made up
– we take that as a compliment.

Okay, now the themes:

***Any Really Good Story***

I always say this but no one believes me.  If your story kicks ass we
will build a freakin' theme around it, people!

***Stages of Life***

In theory, we want to have one story for each "stage" in
chronological order.  Birth.  First kiss. Graduation.  Career.
Marriage.  Kids.  Mid-life crisis.  Retirement.  Anything, really.
The only things we've got covered are a honeymoon from hell and a
dispute over how one couple will spend their afterlife.  (So if you
have a good death story, we'll happily happy to produce it, but not
necessarily for this theme).

***Honor Among Thieves***

Stories of bad people nevertheless sticking to a code.  Or good
people doing a bad thing for a good reason.  Debts getting paid.
Snitches getting stitches.  Because there's the law, and then there's
justice.

***Bloodlines***

Tales of inheritances gone wrong, genetic curses, or bizarre family
legacies.  Whether they grew up knowing about it or only discovered
it late, we want to meet someone who had to confront and (possibly)
clean up the family mess.  The same goes for ethnicity, tribe, etc. –
pick your own unit of bloodline.

***Boomerang***

Stories in which something comes back around.  What does that mean?
Well, stories in which people end up having to do something twice,
but in a different way.  Stories in which an event from long ago is
revisited at an unexpected moment.  Stories about karma taking it's
sweet ass time, because the book says you may be through with the
past, but the past, it ain't through with you.

***The Prophecy***

Stories about prophets (and prophecies) both true and false.  This
does not necessarily have to involve religion.  Any story involving a
specific prediction will do.

***Themes That Are Imminent, So We're Only Interested In Pre-Existing
Content***

Mother's Day
Living Legends

Please send all your pitches to pitches@snapjudgment.org.

Announcing two fellowships from AAWW, deadline May 16

Upcoming fellowships from the Asian American Writers' Workshop. Check it out! -Mia

Hey y'all!

If you're an emerging Asian American writer based in New York, get ready for a big hug. We're excited to announce the call for two separate fellowships tailor-made for you.

You may already know about our Open City Fellowship, now in its fourth year, which gives five writers the opportunity to write and publish short-form and long-form narrative nonfiction on the vibrant immigrant communities of New York City.

This year we're excited to announce a totally new fellowship: The Margins Fellowship, an all new opportunity for three emerging creative writers (fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction), aged thirty and under, to establish a home for their writing and a space to develop their careers.

All of our Fellows will receive $5,000, access to the AAWW space, publishing opportunities in our magazines, free workshops, and more. The Margins Fellows also receive residencies at the Millay Colony for the Arts, an innovative seven-acre artists retreat space at the former house and gardens of poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. All fellows will serve as writers-in-residence with our online magazines, which have published Chang-rae Lee, Jessica Hagedorn, Ashok Kondabolu, Sarah Gambito, Jad Abumrad, and been linked to by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, and The New Inquiry.

The deadline is Friday, May 16, by 11 pm. All the links you need are here:

And check back! We'll be scheduling info sessions with our editors soon. Good luck, peeps.

Cowabunga,

Your friends at AAWW

Bay Area Happy Hour TOMORROW, April 24, 5:30-7:30pm + Data Journalism Training, April 29

Upcoming SPJ Norcal events. I'd be there if I could. -Mia

SPJ NorCal — spjnorcal.org Email not displaying correctly?
View it in your browser.
THURSDAY APRIL 24: SPJ-JAWS Mixer (East Bay)

Please join the SPJ-NorCal and the Bay Area Journalism and Women Symposium for a mixer. We'll enjoy cocktails (cash bar), bar nibbles (courtesy of TOAST), and interesting conversation with colleagues. Hope to see you there! 

Details:

  • April 24, 5:30-7:30pm
  • TOAST
  • 5900 College Ave, Oakland
  • RSVP at Meetup

 
TUESDAY APRIL 29: Data Journalism 101 (SF)

Whether you're a beat reporter on a constant deadline, or a journalist with time to do deeper investigations, data can make your reporting more powerful. And it's more abundant than ever. Plus, it's not rocket science! Anyone can learn. All you need is your computer and Excel. Come learn about the data journalism revolution and how you can use it to turbo-charge your reporting. Taught by AP data journalist Serdar Tumgoren. 

Details:

  • April 29, 6:00-9:00pm
  • Location TBD, San Francisco
  • RSVP at Meetup

 


UPCOMING EVENTS from OTHER ORGANIZATIONS


APRIL 22 (Today!): Catch Up Before IRE 2014 (IRE Bay Area)
IRE's annual conference is coming to San Francisco in June. The local chapter of IRE is hosting a networking party on April 22 at Comal in Berkeley.

Details and Registration on Meetup.

APRIL 29: Create and Post Great Videos (SFBAJ)
How to shoot, post, and edit videos. At Lori's Dinner in SF.

Details and Registration on Meetup.

 


SOCIAL MEDIA


Follow us online to stay up-to-date with all the latest news
Twitter: @spj_norcal
Facebook: facebook.com/groups/spjnorcal
 

Follow on Twitter   Friend on Facebook   Forward to Friend 
Copyright © 2014 Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California Chapter, All rights reserved.
Thanks for signing up with SPJ NorCal on our Web site.

Our mailing address is:

Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California Chapter

c/o San Francisco Public Press
44 Page St., Suite 504

San Francisco, CA 94102

Add us to your address book

Email Marketing Powered by MailChimp