Pitches

Radiolab Call for Stories

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Happy Friday freelancers. Here's a call for pitches from Radiolab. Woot!

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Hey folks,

Jad here. Just want to let you guys know that Radiolab will be commissioning a lot of stories in the next year. So if you’ve got a great one, we’d like to hear it. No matter the topic.

We’re looking for stories. Not topics, not ideas, not scientific findings. We want a character who goes through a series of events that create emotional ups and down and transform them in some way. A couple things we think about when it comes to story hunting (and probably none of this will surprise you):

• It needs to be surprising. Really surprising. The story or the way you tell it or the thought at the end needs to feel like something we haven’t heard before.

• It should hopefully play out an idea, lend insight into some problem, or just raise a question.

• It should strike a balance between big thoughts and real human consequence. Or it should just be over-top joyful.

• It should ideally have an element of the universal that reflects on all of us in some way.

• You should have access to the voices that can tell it well. Show us that you can get inside the experience of the story.

You can throw anything at us, but in case it helps, here are some things we've been thinking about lately

Empathy…can it be engineered?
Punishment…can it be avoided?
Football…can it be less-violent or will that make it suck?
Courtrooms…just courtrooms.

And here are some open-ended phrases or words that we’re hoping might gather a crowd

born pregnant
fluke
memory hole
portals

We just like those words.

If any of this sparks a story idea please write us a few paragraphs and send it to radiolabpitches@gmail.com. Please put PITCH in the subject line. If we’re interested we’ll discuss it internally at a Friday pitch meeting and let you know within a month if we’d like to take next steps. If we’re not interested, we’ll let you know that too.

Thanks.

Workshops

Transom Story Workshop Spring 2015, deadline Jan 3

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Meeting so many amazing producers at Third Coast who got their start at Transom. There is no better place to learn the art of audio production. Deadline Jan 3.

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Transom Story Workshop Spring 2015: Applications Open *

Applications for the Spring 2015 Transom Story Workshop are now available. The Workshop will take place from March 30th – May 21st here in Woods Hole, MA. Lead radio instructor Rob Rosenthal will run the 8-week program for nine beginning producers. Special guests will include NPR's Deborah Amos and This American Life's Ira Glass. Applications due January 3rd by midnight EST. For more information including links to our Workshop FAQ and the application itself, go here:
http://transom.org/workshops/about/story-workshop/

Gigs

Managing Editor Position at The Stanford Storytelling Project

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This appears to be full time, not freelance, but I love the Stanford Storytelling Project and thought this could be a great opportunity for one of you. Details and contact info below. -mia

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The Stanford Storytelling Project at Stanford University is looking for an energetic, experienced radio producer in the San Francisco Bay Area to act as Managing Editor of its award-winning radio show *State of the Human* and student documentary projects. The primary duties of this academic-year, half-time position are:

• conceptualizing and developing themed, hour-long shows with other staff (some student, some part-time professional)
• identifying, soliciting, and developing stories
• managing assignments and production cycle of shows in development
• editing pitches, scripts, and audio drafts of stories
• overseeing production meetings and show team meetings
• training staff and contributors in interviewing, scripting, and audio editing
• mentoring grant recipients and other students making documentaries

Experience teaching or mentoring students is highly desired. For information about the Storytelling Project and *State of the Human*, please visit storytelling.stanford.edu. Pay will aim to be competitive in the field and commensurate with experience. If you are interested, please send a resume and short statement of interest and qualifications to Jonah Willihnganz at jonahw@stanford.edu.

Jonah Willihnganz
Director, The Stanford Storytelling Project
Bruce Braden Lecturer of Narrative Studies
Stanford University

Pitches

Latino USA Call for Pitches

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Call for pitches from Latino USA. Go for it!

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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.

Workshops

Kitchen Sisters Interviewing & Recording Workshop Comes to KCRW in LA, Friday, November 21

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Hey LA folks – my favorite women of radio are bringing their sound workshop to KCRW – Friday, Nov 21, 10am-1pm. Don't miss it! Details below. -Mia
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Dear Friends,

KCRW's Independent Producer Project is bringing The Kitchen Sisters sound, interviewing and recording workshop to KCRW in Santa Monica. Friday morning, November 21 from 10-1:00. This three-hour session is designed for people who want to acquire and hone their skills for an array of audio and media projects: radio, online, podcasts, storytelling, oral histories, audio slideshows, family histories, news, investigative reporting, documentaries and other multimedia platforms.

The workshop will cover interviewing approaches, miking techniques, sound gathering, use of archival audio, field recording techniques, how to make interviewees comfortable, how to frame evocative questions that make for compelling storytelling, what equipment to use and what to pack in your kit, how to build a story, and how to listen.

The workshop is customized to fit the projects you are working on. People who attend come from radio, film, multimedia, newspapers, blogs, journalism, photography, oral history, historical societies, music, writing, libraries, archives, web design, detective agencies, farms, universities, restaurants, health care organizations, theaters, electrician's unions and beyond. The groups are always lively and good contacts are made.

Of course, snacks will be served.

The workshop will be held at KCRW / 1900 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90405.

Fee: $135.00. Register at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/898133.

Questions? Email us at kitchen@kitchensisters.org. And please pass this announcement along to your community.

Expand your skills, meet new people, support KCRW and the work of The Kitchen Sisters.

See you at the station,

Davia & Nikki

Pitches

call for pitches from Making Contact, October 2014

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

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Call for Submissions I.F. Stone Award for Emerging Journalists, deadline Nov 24

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Attention teachers and students. Help spread the word about the I.F. Stone Award from The Investigative Fund supporting original investigative reporting by emerging journalists. Deadline Nov 24. Details below. -Mia

The next deadline for the I.F. Stone Award for emerging journalists, offered by The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute, is November 24, 2014 at 5 p.m. Eastern. The award was created to support original investigative reporting by emerging journalists, such as journalism graduate students, recent graduates, and journalism interns.
 
We ask that you please post and circulate the attached call for submissions and encourage promising candidates to apply. The award will support the projects of one to two prize-winners and is meant to support stories that will appear in U.S. media outlets.
 
Winners of the prize will be selected by the editors of The Investigative Fund and announced in January. The emerging journalists with winning proposals will receive between $2,000 and $10,000, depending upon the applicants' budget request and the stories' reporting requirements. In addition, the winners will receive editorial guidance from Investigative Fund editors; access as needed to Nexis, Accurint, PACER, and libel review; and placement assistance in a print, broadcast, or online outlet. Thanks to generous support from Investigative Reporters & Editors, winners will also be able to attend, at no cost, the next IRE conference in Philadelphia in June 2015.
 
The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute is dedicated to improving the scope and quality of investigative reporting by incubating important investigative stories with the potential for social impact. By providing reporters with editorial guidance, institutional support, and financial support, The Investigative Fund has produced stories that have sparked federal indictments, lawsuits, Congressional investigations, legislation, and the resignation of public officials. Our investigations have appeared in a wide array of outlets, including NPR and PBS as well as The Nation, Harper’s, The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, Mother Jones, Newsweek, Time, Glamour, and GQ. Our stories have also won some of journalism’s top awards, including the Polk, the National Magazine Award, and the Hillman Prize.
 
The I.F. Stone Award honors Stone’s legacy of tireless investigations into issues of vital national interest. As Washington editor of The Nation and founder of the legendary I.F. Stone’s Weekly, Stone combined his investigative zeal with a passionate commitment to exposing injustice. In 1943, after publishing an exposé revealing the questions used by the FBI to identify “subversives” among government workers ("Does he mix with Negroes? Does he… have too many Jewish friends?”), Stone became a target of FBI surveillance. His weekly publication became known for offering up content that other media outlets ignored—such as obscure but revealing testimony at Congressional hearings—and for unsanitized coverage of the Vietnam War.
 
Please feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions about this award or our broader work.
Sarah Blustain

  

Sarah Blustain
Deputy Editor, The Investigative Fund
The Nation Institute

doc icon IFStone-Submission-Guidelines.docx

Internships

WNYC’s Death, Sex, and Money seeks spring intern

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I don't often post internships, but I love this show. Get in on the ground floor of a fab new program. No deadline listed.


https://hire.jobvite.com/Jobvite/jobvite.aspx?b=nAQWLow0

Death, Sex & Money Internship – Spring 2015
New York, NY

NYPR seeks a  highly motivated intern for “Death, Sex & Money,” the bi-weekly podcast about the things we think about a lot and need to talk about more, hosted by Anna Sale and produced by WNYC. 

The intern will work with the entire DSM staff to learn how to create content for the podcast and the website. The successful candidate will be passionate, curious and informed about a wide range of topics.
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submission call for 60 second radio art works, deadline Nov 14

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Call for submissions from Wave Farm/WGXC. Deadline Nov 14. Details below. Fun! -Mia

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Nov 14//Open Call for 60×60 Wave Farm Mix 
Vox Novus's 60×60 and Wave Farm are calling for one-minute radio art works! Vox Novus and Wave Farm are delighted to collaborate on a special edition of 60×60 focused on Radio Art. Artists are invited to submit recorded works (created with, for, about radio and transmission) with durations of 60 seconds, to be included in the eleventh annual 60×60 project; a FM broadcast on Wave Farm’s WGXC 90.7-FM; and distributed as a Wave Farm Dispatch Series download. 60 compositions will be selected to be played continuously in a one-hour live event and broadcast. 

http://wgxc.org/events/11729?utm_source=Wave