Category Archives: Pitches

calls for pitches

Pitches

Latino USA Call for Pitches

Leave a comment
Call for pitches from Latino USA. Go for it!

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

Below is a list of themes for Latino USA programs coming up in the next few months.

We hope they inspire some creative pitches! Story ideas unrelated to these themes are also welcome.

Please send your ideas directly to pitches@futuromediagroup.org, with details about the story arc, characters, scenes and sounds you envision for your piece. Features generally run from 4-6 minutes long and pay $125 per minute.

Pitch meetings take place on Friday afternoons, and we try to get back to reporters early the following week.

Thanks,

Leda

 

Leda Hartman

Editor, NPR’s Latino USA

919-542-0008

ledahart@mindspring.com

www.latinousa.org

 

GIVE AND TAKE: Stories about gain and loss. They can be personal or not.

 

HOME: Finding home in unusual places. And just what makes home home?

 

TABOO: Crossing lines, saying things you wouldn’t ordinarily say, talking about things people hesitate to talk about.

 

QUALITY CONTROL: How do we evaluate whether something succeeds or fails? Stories can be related to tech or health, but don’t have to be.

 

LATINO ICONS: Sample stories in the pipeline include a musical about baseball great Roberto Clemente, and a California taco restaurant where Mexican-American leaders organized against discrimination.

 

PUERTO RICAN REMIX: All things Borinqueno.

 

AFRO-LATINO: History, music, culture, current issues and events.

 

NERDS: Stories about geeking out, tech, learning more, being a passionate devotee.

 

LATINO HISTORY OF HIP-HOP

 

ON THE GO: Stories about transportation, being mobile, moving, changing, adapting.

 

HACKING: Not just tech, but using shortcuts and work-arounds, and coping generally.

Pitches

call for pitches from Making Contact, October 2014

Leave a comment
Call for pitches from the fine (award-winning!) folks at Making Contact. Details and submissions guidelines below.
++++++++++++++++++++

Dear Freelancers,

We’re looking for pitches from freelancers on several themes. If you feel
you have a story that fits or a new idea, please let us know!

We’re also always interested in pitches on any of our regular beats:
prisons, poverty, corporations’ undue influence, reproductive health,
climate change and the environment.

Guns

We're looking for stories that bring new perspectives on guns and gun
violence. These could be personal stories, for example, you could focus on
an ex-NRA member who now opposes guns, or a 60s radical who still advocates
their use. They could also be more investigative/ explanatory pieces.
Perhaps a look at ALEC involvement in crafting gun policies or a look at
the international arms trade. We'd also welcome other pitches related to
guns, maybe the economics of gun manufacturing or creative community
responses to gun violence.

Coffee Shop Workers

Starbucks workers are in the news for attempting to form their own union.
We’re looking for a report on how workers in coffee shops are organizing
for wage increases or better working conditions.

The state of long-term caregiving

By 2030 the number of senior citizens is expected to double to 72.1 million
<http://www.agingstats.gov/main_site/data/2012_documents/docs/entirechartbook.pdf>. 

As more seniors move into older age brackets the demand for a younger
generation of workers and family members to help with day to day life will
grow. We’re looking for stories that have a fresh perspective on providing
long-term caregiving to seniors and disabled people. Stories that explore
the quality of care, conditions in the workplace, the effect on care
recipients and givers, and the availability of supportive services in a
community or lack thereof. What are the race/class/gender dimensions of
people in this workforce?  We’d also be interested in stories from the
perspective of elders who are inventing new senior care arrangements based
on communal models and multigenerational living arrangements.

Five Years after Deepwater Horizon

Considered the worst in U.S. history, back in 2010 oil spilled into the
Gulf of Mexico for 87 days. 5 years later, what are the effects of the
estimated 176 million gallons of oil that spewed into the Gulf? Has BP
really taken responsibility, and what has happened since? We are also
interested in stories about BP in other parts of the world. What is this
company’s global environmental legacy? Where are other communities battling
this particular oil giant? How has BP worked to regain their public
reputation since 2010 (this might be a story about their PR effort)

Specifications

Making Contact is an award-winning
<http://www.radioproject.org/aboutus/honors-and-awards/>, 29-minute weekly
magazine/documentary-style public affairs program heard on 140 radio
stations in the USA, Canada, South Africa, and Australia.  Amplifying
voices and perspectives rarely heard in mainstream media, Making Contact
focuses on the human realities of politics and the connections between
local and global events, emphasizing positive and creative ways to solve
problems.

This call for pitches is for segments of about 8 minutes (unless otherwise
noted), and we pay $450 per story of this length. but we also occasionally
take longer pieces (12 or 26 minutes).

As with any pitches you send us, please check out our show and read our
guidelines before you pitch.

http://www.radioproject.org/production/submission-guidelines/

Consider the following. Does the story:

   – Link grassroots issues and human realities to national or international
   trends?
   – Give listeners a historical, political, or social context of major
   national and international events?
   – Shed light on social and economic inequities?
   – Explore any alternatives or solutions?

Send pitches to pitches@radioproject.org. Please be detailed but succinct,
and include a description of your idea, narrative/story arc, interview
subjects, scenes, and sounds/ambi. If you’re pitching to us for the first
time, please include a brief bio and relevant audio clips.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Laura Flynn, Jasmin Lopez, Andrew Stelzer & George Lavender

Making Contact producers

Pitches

ABC’s Creative Audio Unit seeks pitches for upcoming shows, deadline Oct 27

Leave a comment
Pitch down under! The folks at ABC's Radiotonic and Soundproof want your pitches for their next round of shows. Details and pitching guidelines in the links below. Go for it!

-Mia

We're coming up on a deadline (October 27) for our next round of commissions, so if you've been thinking about pitching:
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/soundproof/about/
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/radiotonic/about/

Best to send your short pitch sooner than later, so you have time to develop a full proposal if we're interested.

Pitches

New project from The World seeks pitches on the status of women and their communities, deadline ASAP

Leave a comment
Holy WOW – what a great opportunity from PRI's The World. (Important topic! Travel budget! Multimedia!!) The word from the acting editor is that they're looking for a very high level of reporting here, so not for newbies. Details and contact info below. -Mia

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

 
We wanted to let you know about an exciting new initiative The World and our partners at pri.org are undertaking over the next 18 months.
 
It’s working title is Across Women’s Lives, and it will focus on the relationship between the status of women around the world and the status of their larger communities and societies. In particular it will examine the questions of whether, and if so how, particular improvements in the status of women leverage improvements in “development” and quality of life indicators for everyone. (And if not, why not?)
 
Our working project summary is below. The reason I’m writing to you now is that we’re looking for pitches. The series will have a special focus on India and sub-Saharan Africa, but we’ll be looking for stories everywhere. And while the focus here is specific, the kinds of stories we’re looking for are the same as always: driven by strong characters, strong voices, strong sound and strong writing.
 
We’ll be paying our usual rates for these pieces but we do have a healthy budget for travel. That doesn’t mean you should think first of big trips away from your home base—there might well be great stories right in your local areas—but if you’ve got a great idea for a story that would require travel, and can sell us on it, we might well be able to make it happen.
 
We’re also planning to build a significant multimedia component into every story, including a fully-produced stand-alone video. Sometimes the same reporter could produce both of these, other times it would involve pairing the radio reporter with a video journalist. And of course if the same reporter produces both, you’ll be paid for both.
 
We’re in the process of hiring a dedicated editor for this project, but until we do, please send any story ideas to me.
 
And we’re on a pretty aggressive timetable to launch, so if you have a great story along these lines that you’ve been itching to do, send along a pitch as soon as you can.
 
As always, thanks for thinking of us and we look forward to working with some of you on this project.
 
Best, from Boston,
 
Peter Thomson
Acting Editor, Across Women’s Lives
 
************
 
PROJECT SUMMARY
 
PRI’s The World and pri.org are launching a high-profile, 15-month reporting project on the status of women around the world. The “Across Women’s Lives” project (working title) will deploy radio & multimedia producers working independently and together to produce top-quality feature stories on:
* Efforts to improve the well-being of communities by raising the status of women and girls, especially in India and sub-Saharan Africa;
* Links between the status of women and girls in developing countries and broader social indicators of health, education and economic opportunity for society;
* Women, men and organizations making a difference in the lives of their families and communities by working to improve the status of women.
 
The reports will be broadcast on The World and featured on pri.org starting in December, 2014 and will be clustered around five stages of women’s lives: birth and infancy, early childhood, adolescence and young adulthood, middle age, and old age.
 
 
Peter Thomson
Environment Editor, PRI's The World
Author, Sacred Sea: A Journey to Lake Baikal

 
@bluepearmain
Pitches

Destination DIY Seeks Pitches For December Episode

Leave a comment
Great show seeks pitches. Details below! -Mia
++++++++++++++++
Destination DIY is seeking pitches for our December episode. Please have a look at our pitching guidelines on the AIR pitch page: http://www.airmedia.org/PageInfo.php?PageID=21 and send your pitch to info@destinationdiy.org 
As you may know, the show is monthly, and we typically showcase one longish (10-12 min) feature per episode. We recently joined the Maximum Fun network and we're excited to be sharing the show with a whole new audience. 
Thanks so much,
Julie

—
Host, producer and creator of Destination DIY
http://destinationdiy.org
Twitter: @DIYgirl
Facebook: http://facebook.com/DestinationDIY

Pitches

Snap Judgment Looking For Magic Stories

Leave a comment
Snap Judgment needs your MAGIC stories ASAP. Details below!

Snap Judgment is looking to fill a hole in an upcoming episode all about magic and trickery.  If there are any good radio features featuring magic and/or trickery and/or mysticism you know of that might work for the Snap format (a plot-driven narrative arc in which a character encounters an interesting source of tension that resolves in an unexpected way) let us know at pitches@snapjudgment.org.  Keep in mind, this doesn't need to be your story.  If there's something you've heard that you love and would simply like to bring to our attention, by all means do so!
Also, support the Snap Judgment kickstarter if you're so inclined. It's a really good show.
Pitches

The Atlantic Technology Channel’s latest call for pitches, from @roseveleth

Leave a comment
The Atlantic wants your tech stories! This from tech editor Rose Eveleth:



So, um, pitch me! These don't pay incredibly well (I'm pushing to get more freelance money, but right now I'm forced to work with what we have, so max I can do is $200) but they should be quick pieces, not super long reported features. 

Details below! -Mia

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

Last week we wrapped up our series on Hide and Track—stories about discovering and escaping data. Together, we tracked thousands of antique newspapers, hid from exes and hunted for pot in America’s cornfields. There were awkward moments, wild moments, and straight up gross moments. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Our pitch calls have yielded remarkable stories, and we want to keep that ball rolling. So it’s time for the next theme.

As a refresher: These should be adventures with technology—stories that surprise and delight and make us rethink our everyday interactions with tech. These are the kinds of stories that stay with people because they get at something about humans first, and technology second. You should be able to deliver these in a few days, and while you don’t have to be the main character, a human being should be.  

(If you want to know why we’re structuring these pitch calls like this, you can learn a bit more about the logic here.)

The new theme is Addition and Subtraction, stories of humans becoming more and less and sometimes both with the help of technology.

Nobody is ever satisfied: we all want to be more (stronger, faster, smarter, better) and less (arrogant, busy, tired). And technology is often how we grasp at those improvements—alarm clocks and apps and treadmills and calendars and cars. We’re always adding here, and taking there. Chipping away and inserting.

Sometimes we have no choice in the matter—things are handed to us and wrenched away before we can even process what’s going on. Other times we add and subtract to ourselves intentionally, with glee, reservation, disdain, and confusion. But nobody ever exists in a steady state, made of the same bits and pieces as they were the day before.

Sometimes these are physical replacements: arms, legs, fingers and toes created by technology and assimilated into someone’s body. Bacteria that comes and goes in and out of your body. Parasites that take up residence, or babies that finally vacate the premises to start their lives. Or they can be stories of mental and emotional swaps: learning to think like a machine, losing your job to a computer, adding a robot to your family.

Bring us your stories of adding and subtracting, with creative interpretations welcomed and encouraged. As always, we want you to really explore and push the theme beyond the most obvious examples. Send your (short) pitches to Rose Eveleth: reveleth at theatlantic.com. We're only going to take about 20 of them, so we suggest you get them in early. By the end of the week we’ll likely have met our limit.

Pitches

How To Pitch Personal Essays To BuzzFeed Ideas

Leave a comment
For what it's worth, BuzzFeed Ideas posted this guide to pitching personal essays. I have no idea what "we pay" amounts to, but might be worth a shot. Details below.

BuzzFeed Ideas is relaunching and we’re looking for unique, well-told personal essays that people will want to share. Here’s an FAQ.

How do I know if my story is worth telling?

Ask yourself: Is this something that is either a) taboo yet relatable that no one has ever articulated as well as you can, b) an experience SO crazy and foreign that people will feel compelled to share it, or c) a really big idea from the vantage point of the only person who could have had that perspective.

We’re particularly interested in stories by women, non-white, and LGBT writers, as well as previously unpublished writers.

What subject areas are you interested in?

We’re looking for pitches on a variety of topics, including but not limited to:

Sex and dating/relationships
Debt/money
Disease, especially the experience of being sick and invisible illnesses
Mental illness
Parenting and parents (including the experience of parents aging)
Drugs and addiction
Race
Work

We’re interested in serious subjects, but not necessarily serious takes: If you have an idea for a humorous approach to any of the above (or anything else), go for it. There’s also no strict word count, but pieces tend to be in the 800 to 1,200-word range, and we pay. We are also open to stories in other formats, such as graphic essays, photo essays, and audio pieces.

Do you have examples of the kinds of stories you’re looking for?

Why, yes! These are some essays BuzzFeed has published in the last few months that worked really well for us.

Notes On An Eating Disorder
The Last Time My Grandmother Slapped Me
Running Into My 12-Year-Old Self Online
I Was Sure Freezing My Eggs Would Solve Everything
The Worst Day Of My Life Is Now New York’s Hottest Tourist Attraction

So how do I *actually* pitch stories?

You should submit your pitch in the body of an email to buzzfeedideas@buzzfeed.com with the subject line IDEAS PITCH. (Emails with attachments will be deleted unread.)

Pitches

call for pitches from WNYC’s New Tech City

Leave a comment
Calling public media geeks nationwide! WNYC's New Tech City wants your stories. Details and contact info is below. Go for it!! -Mia
++++++++++++++++++++
Hello radio friends, 

For those of you I don't know me, I'm Alex Goldmark the producer for WNYC's New Tech City hosted by Manoush Zomorodi. 

We want your freelance pitches!
We are a good place to pitch if you think about the human side of tech or if you want to experiment with format, length or storytelling style. 
What is New Tech City? 
We are a lively young public radio podcast and broadcast about how technology is changing… people. Yes we are a tech show, but what we want the show to become is a great, storytelling program about your life in a turbulent time. About how the old way of doing things is being replaced by a new normal because of technology. And how we should feel about it. 
We love personal stories. We love trying things out on ourselves. We love riding along with someone as they show us how life has changed because of tech. We like humor, relish absurdity, and can't help calling out brogrammers when appropriate (that's just how it is as one of the only tech shows hosted by a woman). 
We air as a 7 minute show on WNYC each week during Morning Edition but our heart really goes into our podcast which tends to be about 15-25 minutes. (By all means subscribe, please. iTunes / RSS)
What is a New Tech City story?
It can be a feature or it can be you talking with Manoush and playing tape. Or a mix. It can be anywhere between 5 minutes to 25 minutes. 
We want narrative examples of how technology has changed a person's life, business, or the way something is done. Something that raises a bigger issue or question along the way. 
Is there an industry that has been totally upended? Find us the plainspoken holdout. Or the earnest early adopter. 
Is there a trend you see? A new technology infiltrating intimate moments? A therapist making great strides in treating patients through text message stickers? An elderly community group revived by Skyping with their families more often? Pitch me those stories!
Many news outlets want to have all the answers, we embrace stories that raise unanswerable questions like "where do you draw the line?" 
Human-centered tech coverage as the buzzwordy lingo goes. 
So please pitch me your ideas for radio stories that can: 
– raise a moral puzzle about tech adoption; or … 
– show our audience how some old way of doing things is going away; or …
– explain some tech trend we should all understand better through story and character; or … 
– or anything else you think gets at how technology is changing the way we live. 
Surprise us!
*Please don't pitch me any stories on learning to code classes (we've done that too much), gadget reviews, or pie in the sky far-off futurism that doesn't come with some emotion or feeling!
How to pitch?
Email me at agoldmark@gmail.com 
Stick "NTC PITCH" somewhere in the subject heading so I'll find it faster. 
I should respond within a week, even to just say maybe or ask a follow up question. Nagging me later on is totally OK. 
Pay is consistent with big public radio station rates and we can be flexible depending on how much work the story requires. Get ambitious! 
Send me links to previous stories, especially ones that show me your voice and style. We want personality to come through! 
Looking forward to hearing from you all. 
Dancing toward the dream, 
Alex Goldmark 
Pitches

Snap Judgment Call For Pitches & Themes List

Leave a comment
Snap Judgment is once again looking for freelance pitches.  Below you'll find a list of our upcoming themes. Send your pitches to pitches@snapjudgment.org. 

 

***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. 

 

***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.         

***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. 

***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.  Which brings to our next theme…  

***Unspeakable***

It could a taboo word.  A persona secret.  Or even an open secret that's never uttered out loud.  But once it's said it, it can't be unsaid.  So we keep our mouth shut … or not.  And come to regret it … or not.  If you have  a story about someone entering a forbidden realm of discussion, we want to hear it. 

***Leap Of Faith***

Everyone has something they choose to believe in the absence of hard evidence.  Sometimes it's because life would make no sense without it.  Sometimes they just know it's true in their bones.  But other times, let's face it, they're just engaging in wishful thinking.  We're looking for stories in which people struggle with whether or not to take a leap of faith, and experience the consequences of their choice.  (Keep in mind the leap does not necessarily have to be religious in nature).  

***GI Jane***

Stories of women in combat — both literally and figuratively.  Stories of fighting alongside women — both literally and figuratively.  Stories in which women get to kick some ass.  As always, we're looking for narrative arcs that go beyond the usual inspirational profile piece.  In fact, banish the word profile from your mind.   

***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. 
***Helpful Hints For Pitching***
As usual, we're interested in stories with classic narrative arcs — so no profiles, no news reports, no issue-based pieces.  Instead, imagine that you're pitching us a movie.  Movie pitches are all about a sequence of events, so 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. And if you can’t pitch your story as a sequence of events, well, it probably wasn’t a Snap story in the first place.