Pitches

call for pitches from WNYC’s New Tech City

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Calling public media geeks nationwide! WNYC's New Tech City wants your stories. Details and contact info is below. Go for it!! -Mia
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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 
Events

BAVC hosts Gig Union Town Hall event for media/tech/creative freelancers, 9/19, 3-6pm

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Hey Bay Area freelancers! The fine folks at BAVC are hosting an important event on Tuesday, Sept 19, 3-6pm. Details below.
 
BAVC is organizing a Gig Union Town Hall September 19th here in San Francisco.  The Gig Union Town Hall presents a unique opportunity for creative freelancers to come together, discuss challenges contract based workers face, and think about ways of strengthening their rights in a rapidly changing economy.  Our line up of speakers includes:
 

Rena Tom Makeshift Society founder/entrepreneur

Susie Cagle of Freelance Journalism/Editorial Cartoonist
Misha  Sundukovskiy of GoForCrew founder/Freelance Video Producer + Director
Denise Cheng Indie researcher/Civic Design via MIT
Steve Goldbloom from PBS’s “Everything But the News” will be our moderator.
 
More information + RSVP is found here: http://bavc.org/gutownhall
 
Bay Area Video Coalition’s mission is to inspire social change by
enabling the sharing of diverse stories through art, education and
technology.

 

Gigs

Radio Journalist needed for IOM mission in Philippines, Aug 25-29

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Know any talented radio journalists in the Philippines? Spread the word! Details and contact info below. -Mia
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The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is looking for an experienced radio producer/journalist to produce a broadcast quality podcast from our mission in Philippines. To that end we wish to engage journalist specialized in radio production to accompany our research team to the Philippines to conduct interviews with IOM staff. The aim is to produce a 45-60 minute podcast program of broadcast quality using voice interviews and natural sound exploring the possible impact of the new set of humanitarian principles in crisis situations.

IOM is developing and implementing an institutional humanitarian policy which will be embodied in a set of ‘Principles for Humanitarian Action’ (PHA) for the mobility dimension of crisis situations. These Principles will underpin IOM’s ‘Migration Crisis Operational Framework’, and will guide IOM staff and field operations when responding to the human mobility dimension of crises.

Field-based reports will be undertaken to explore and identify the current and recent operational experience of humanitarian challenges and issues IOM staff face, and the effects the PHA initiative will have on these challenges.

Payment will cover 10 days of work (five days in field and five days for post-production), flight, transport and daily allowance.

The journalist should have experience with international media and ideally have produced work for international organizations previously.

Aims and Objectives of Podcast Report –
§ To scope out, identify and document the nature and the different types of humanitarian challenges and dilemmas faced in diverse operational settings;
§ To explore how accountability challenges towards communities and affected populations are met in the field;
§ To document the types of support provided at different levels to guide humanitarian and rights-based interventions and identify gaps.

Please contact Leonard Doyle ldoyle@iom.int

Pitches

Snap Judgment Call For Pitches & Themes List

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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.

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Nat Geo looking for characters

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Not totally sure what to make of this, but thought it was worth passing along. The talent director at National Geographic TV channel is looking for stories. They're also paying for anyone who finds characters / storytellers. Contact Stacey McClain at — SMcClain@natgeotv.com. 

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Our talent is authentic, daring and unique in their pursuits.  They’re not looking to be on television but they should be.  They are characters WITH character who have a strong point of view.  They’ve lived on Earth long enough to know how they want to live their life and this is what they CHOOSE to do. Their world is different from the norm… it’s aspirational and serves as an escape for our audience.  Our talent is someone to whom our viewer can relate but who also has something our viewer wants.  

They could have the guts to pursues a high stakes, action-packed, engaging job that has big risks and payoffs as in Wicked Tuna.  Or maybe they decided to leave the trappings of modern society to live life free and on their own terms with a little wink and a smile as they go about it as in The Legend of Mick Dodge.  

Our audience is a 60%/40% male/female split.  Is mostly Middle America, Middle Income, Middle Education.  Average age is 49.  Red states.  They work hard all day – typically at a blue collar job – and maybe have 1 hour each night to watch TV and relax.  So they don’t want to see someone working hard at a job similar to theirs.  They don’t want to see people in urban areas.  They don’t want to see people fighting for fabricated drama’s sake.  They don’t want to see shows that must be heavily produced to work.  They want to be entertained first and maybe pick up some takeaway knowledge that they don’t have to work at to obtain.

Our audience punishes us for being derivative and rewards us for being distinctive and wants elements of the core DNA of the National Geographic brand apparent in each program.  Meaning, if you had a line of televisions next to each other… removed the characters… the backdrops would all feel Nat Geo and have some or all of these elements… epic landscapes… nature… exploration… action/adventure… authenticity… inside access.  

Here’s a link to an episode of Life Below Zero and some Mick Dodge clips.  Our audience has responded favorably to these characters and return week after week to watch them.  They’re just the real deal and I need more people like them.

Life Below Zero – Sue Aitkens
The Legend of Mick Dodge – Mick

And here’s a link to a character reel that was a result of reading an article about this guy… hiring a day shooter/producer to ingratiate himself with him and get him on tape.

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CALL FOR NOMINATIONS, 29th Annual Excellence in Journalism Awards, deadline Sept 5

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29th ANNUAL SPJ EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM AWARDS
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
, deadline Sept 5. Details below. ________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
— Aug. 12, 2014 Contact: Lila LaHood (415) 846-5346 or Liz Enochs (415) 323-0220 Know a deserving journalist who’s performed brilliant work over the past year? Someone who does what it takes to get the story, photo or video? Whose dedication to our craft is second to none? Maybe that journalist is you! For the past 29 years, the Northern California chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists has selected from among the Bay Area’s best of the best for its acclaimed Excellence in Journalism Awards. These awards honor the journalists whose work stand out in their embodiment of SPJ’s ideals of initiative, integrity, talent and compassion. The contest entry site — awards.spjnorcal.org — features a one-stop shop for all your contest needs, including a short video with detailed, step-by-step instructions. (We no longer accept mailed entries.) Create an account, and the site will walk you through the rest. Deadline is 11:59 p.m. PDT on Friday, Sept. 5, 2014. See below for complete Contest Categories and Submission Guidelines. Best of luck! CONTEST CATEGORIES BREAKING NEWS Honors individuals, teams or news organizations whose work demonstrates clear and accurate reporting and graceful writing on deadline. Judges will consider deadline pressure and complexity of subject. Entry specifications: Submit up to three stories and related multimedia content. Categories: Print/Text, Radio/Audio and TV/Video. INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING Honors individuals or teams that identify important issues and demonstrate initiative, persistence and resourcefulness in pursuing information that is restricted or not easily available. Entry specifications: Submit one story or a series, along with any related multimedia content. If entering a series, please submit no more than four stories in the series. Categories: Radio/Audio, TV/Video, and Small and Large divisions* for Print/Text. EXPLANATORY JOURNALISM Honors journalists who increase readers’, listeners’ and/or viewers’ understanding of significant or complex issues. Entries may add understanding to issues in the news or may focus on issues largely uncovered by the media. Entry specifications: Submit one story or a series, along with any related multimedia content. If entering a series, please submit no more than four stories in the series. Categories: Radio/Audio, TV/Video, and Small and Large divisions* for Print/Text. COMMUNITY JOURNALISM Honors journalists and organizations whose primary focus is coverage of a well-defined small community or neighborhood. Entries may include print publications, news broadcasts or news sites. University-supported projects are not eligible. Entry specifications: This is for community-based outlets. Submit no more than five news stories and related multimedia content, or two news packages demonstrating the range and depth of local news coverage. Categories: Print/Text, Radio/Audio and TV/Video. FEATURE STORYTELLING Honors journalists for exceptional writing that demonstrates originality of approach. Judges will consider humor or drama evoked, style, clarity of writing and suitability of the writing to the subject. Entry specifications: Submit one story or a series, along with any related multimedia content. If entering a series, please submit no more than four stories in the series. Categories: Radio/Audio, TV/Video, and Small and Large divisions* for Print/Text. COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS Honors individuals for exceptional writing of commentary, analysis and editorials. Print entries may include bylined or unsigned content. News-related blogs are also eligible. Judges will consider quality of expression, clarity of analysis and originality of approach. Entry specifications: Submit up to three samples. Categories: Print/Text, Radio/Audio and TV/Video. ARTS & CULTURE REPORTING Honors journalists for incisive reporting about art, music, movies, theater, dance, books, restaurants, architecture or other public performance. May also include reviews. Judges will consider quality of analysis and persuasiveness of arguments. Entry specifications: Submit up to three samples. Categories: Radio/Audio, TV/Video, and Small and Large divisions* for Print/Text. JOURNALISM INNOVATION Honors individuals or organizations that have demonstrated innovative ways to further the goals of journalism using online tools, new funding strategies and/or other approaches. Entrants should demonstrate how innovation has led to unique coverage. Entry specifications: Submit up to three samples showing how this innovation works. Categories: All media. DATA VISUALIZATION Honors individuals or organizations that have demonstrated excellence in presenting complex information using graphics, maps and other data visualization and interactive tools. Entry specifications: Submit up to three samples. Include the associated stories or links to them online. Categories: All media. BEST SCOOP Honors individuals or organizations for breaking an important news story that led to extensive coverage by other organizations. Entry specifications: Submit one story or package of related stories and associated multimedia content. Categories: All media. PHOTOJOURNALISM Please include the written story or explanation with each submission. Breaking News — Honors individuals, teams or news organizations whose work demonstrates clear, accurate and graceful photojournalism produced on deadline. Judges will consider deadline pressure and complexity of subject. Entry specifications: Submit photos with cutlines from up to three stories. No more than 15 images in all. Categories: Individual and Team. Photo Essay — Honors individuals, teams or news organizations for excellent storytelling presented in series of related photos that either serve as a stand-alone photo essay or are associated with a written story. May have appeared in print and/or on the organization’s website. Entry specifications: Submit photos with cutlines from one photo essay. No more than 15 images in all. Categories: Essay of 1 to 5 images; Essay of 6 to 10 images; Essay of 11 to 15 images. Audio Slideshow — Honors individuals, teams or news organizations for excellent storytelling presented in an audio slideshow that either stands alone or is associated with a written story. Entry specifications: Submit one audio slideshow of up to three minutes in length. Portfolio — Honors an individual for excellence in photojournalism. Entry specifications: Submit up to 10 images with cutlines. Include the associated stories or links to them online. All images must have been produced between July 1, 2012 and June 30, 2013. Single Image — Honors an individual for a single excellent image captured in the past year. Entry specifications: Submit one image with cutline. Include the associated story or a link to it online. Image must have been produced between July 1, 2012 and June 30, 2013. VIDEO JOURNALISM This category honors an emerging form of journalism that is increasingly impactful in the emerging world of digital news. Video journalism is image-driven and may or may not include the kind of narration or the involvement of a reporter of traditional broadcast reporting. How this differs from the TV/Video categories above: Those categories encompass traditional TV-style journalism, usually driven by a reporter and which involve a traditional script and narration. Video journalism is driven by the photographer/video journalist. Its primary focus is on images. And it may break the rules of traditional broadcast journalism, shooting on mobile devices, for example, or focusing more on mood than on script-based information. Breaking News — Honors individuals, teams or news organizations whose work demonstrates clear, accurate and graceful video journalism produced on deadline. Judges will consider deadline pressure and complexity of subject. Entry specifications: Submit videos from up to three stories. Video Journalism Essay — Honors individuals, teams or news organizations for excellent, artful storytelling presented in video journalism format. Entry specifications: Submit one essay of up to 15 minutes. If the original piece is longer than 15 minutes, submit one 15-minute segment for judging. Portfolio — Honors an individual for excellence in video journalism. Entry specifications: Submit up to five stories with a maximum combined length of up to 15 minutes. OUTSTANDING EMERGING JOURNALIST Honors a journalist with less than five years of professional experience whose work shows great promise. Entry specifications: Submit resume and three samples of work. Categories: All media STUDENT SPECIAL PROJECT Honors individuals or classes of college-level students for exemplary reporting, writing, and/or photography produced by all forms of student media, including special projects that report local news. These should be student-generated and not part of an ongoing university-sponsored project. Entry specifications: Submit up to three samples. Categories: All media PUBLIC SERVICE Honors individuals, teams, or news organizations that try to improve conditions for the benefit of society. Entries will be judged on the significance of the issues, evidence of initiative, effectiveness of presentation and results obtained or pledged. Entry specifications: May include project articles, editorials, public service announcements, cartoons, photos, graphics and online material. Categories: All media NORCAL SPJ BOARD OF DIRECTORS AWARDS Every year, the SPJ-NorCal Board of Directors honors individuals in the following six categories. Anyone may nominate candidates for consideration. There is no fee to nominate candidates for Board Awards, but a nomination letter is required. Complete instructions are available online. 1) Journalist of the Year: For extraordinary journalistic contributions in the past year. 2) Career Achievement: For extraordinary achievements exemplifying the highest standards of the profession. 3) Unsung Hero: A person whose contribution to journalism usually happens behind the scenes and is often overlooked (for example, a copy editor, librarian, web producer). 4) Meritorious SPJ Service/John Gothberg Award: For outstanding contributions to the Northern California Chapter of SPJ. 5) Distinguished Service: For distinguished service to journalism by a journalist or non-journalist. 6) The Silver Heart: Awarded to a journalist whose career reflects an extraordinary dedication to giving voice to the voiceless. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS Qualifying Timeframe: Entries must have been published/broadcast between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014, by a news outlet or individuals based in Northern California. Each entrant may submit only one entry per category. Deadline: Entries must be time-stamped by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 5, 2014. Multiple entries: Stories or projects entered in the Public Service, Best Scoop or Outstanding Emerging Journalist categories may also be entered in one other category. Entries for other categories may not be entered in multiple categories. Cover letters: Letters of nomination or recommendation are permitted in any category, but they are not required, except for Board Award nominations. * Divisions for Print/Text: Some categories are divided into Small Print/Text and Large Print/Text divisions to reflect the reality that larger organizations have more resources than smaller ones. “Large” organizations are defined as organizations where one or more of the following apply: print circulation exceeds 100,000 and/or average monthly unique website visitors exceed 500,000. If neither of those apply to your organization, select “Small.” Note: If your organization is a news service or an organization that produces content for syndication, choose your division based on the estimated reach the story received in syndication. Fee: For SPJ members**: $30 per entry. For non-SPJ members: $40 per entry. Payments: Payments can be made by credit card via awards.spjnorcal.org. You may also select a “Pay by check” option. Checks should be made to “SPJ NorCal.” In the memo field, please write “EIJ 2014.” Checks should be postmarked by Sept. 5, 2014 and mailed to: SPJ NorCal Chapter c/o San Francisco Public Press 44 Page St., Ste. 504 San Francisco, CA 94102 ** To be eligible for the $30 SPJ member entry fee, you must be a member of both the SPJ national organization (current membership fee $75) AND the SPJ Northern California chapter ($20) as of the time-stamp of entry. Membership is good for 12 months, based on the date you joined. Chapter membership entitles you to free or reduced member admission to NorCal chapter activities, including the Excellence in Journalism Awards dinner. To join SPJ and the NorCal chapter, please go to: www.spj.org/join.asp.

Gigs

freelance arts reporter needed in Colorado

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Hey Colorado freelancers. Great (STEADY) opportunity from the CPR arts desk. Details below. (Wish I lived in CO!) -Mia

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Colorado Public Radio in Denver is looking for a talented freelancer to produce a regular 5-minute audio/web segment for our Arts Bureau Editor, Chloe Veltman, once a month. The segment is called Voicebox. here are a couple of examples of segments produced to date:

https://www.cpr.org/news/story/voicebox-how-singing-cures-stuttering

https://www.cpr.org/news/story/voicebox-how-auctioneers-turn-selling-art-form-and-sport

This person needs to be a great reporter, based in Colorado and ideally has an interest in stories about the human voice.

The pay is $375 per segment. That covers pitching, reporting, writing and going through whatever editing stages are necessary to create a polished piece. Mixing the final product is not a requirement, at least to start, though mixing skills are a plus.

If interested, please contact Chloe at cveltman@cpr.org.

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Journo training opportunity with North Country Public Radio, Aug 25-26

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I admit – I don't know if there are any spots left and this training is coming right up, August 25th and 26th, but it might be worth an email if you'll be in this neck of the woods. Details below. -Mia
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Free Training Opportunity. North Country Public Radio's Prison Time Media Project will hold a two-day training session for journalists interested in doing more in-depth reporting on America's vast prison system and the war on drugs. For two years, NCPR has been examining the criminal justice system in the context of escalating 'mandatory minimum' prison sentences for drug crimes, debates over amending those laws, and the impact of mass incarceration on urban and rural communities within our region and across the US. Now, we have an opportunity to hold a workshop to explore ideas and strategies for bringing this important story to audiences. This will be especially helpful for small- and mid-sized newsrooms interested in tackling this complex topic without assigning a full-time 'beat' reporter. Brian Mann, the lead producer for the NCPR project will lead and moderate the sessions, along with producer Natasha Haverty, and participation by experts in the field. The session, August 25th and 26th, will be held at the remarkable Blue Mountain Center, a historic wilderness retreat in the Adirondack Mountains. Room and meals and training will be offered free of charge, thanks to the Blue Mountain Center, NCPR, and John Brown Lives. There are eight places available. Journalists will cover costs of their own travel to and from Blue Mountain Center, located in Blue Mountain Lake, New York. There is no formal application process. To apply, email Brian Mann at brian@ncpr.org. Deadline: Open until positions filled.

Martha Foley
News Director
North Country Public Radio
Canton, NY
martha@ncpr.org
315-229-5304

Pitches

Innovation Hub is looking for pitches

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Call for pitches from WGBH's Innovation Hub – details below! -Mia

Innovation Hub is a new national show, from WGBH and PRI, about how the world is changing and how we'll be living next. Yes, we cover tech and startups. But we also look back at important inventions that have changed us, and forward at new ways to change human behavior and the world. We examine what it takes to be successful, what genius is made of, and what causes failure. We're an hour-long, weekly show that includes conversations from some of the biggest thinkers of our day. You can check us out at InnovationHub.org.

We're looking to expand our coverage to include more reported pieces about innovations happening all over the country – from Manhattan to Meridian, Idaho; Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania to Seattle.

We're now accepting pitches from reporters at local stations or freelancers. Repurposing a piece that aired locally is fine. Pay will be commensurate with other national public radio shows.

Please send a short email with a description of your story, as well as links to previous work, to mary_dooe@wgbh.org, and we'll take it from there.

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CALL FOR PITCHES, Making Contact

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Call for pitches from the incomparable Making Contact. Pitching specifications and contact email is at the bottom of this post.  -Mia

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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!

DIVESTMENT FROM FOSSIL FUELS

We’re looking for stories about students putting pressure on colleges and universities to cut financial ties with the oil and gas industry; as well as other government bodies and private organizations making similar choices. We’re looking for lively pieces that explain the complicated financial issues at stake. We’d also be interested in personal stories about students or staff involved in these campaigns.

SQUATTERS

This show looks at how squatters around the world continue to maintain their delicate existence, while (often unintentionally) challenging commonly held notions about property ownership, community, and the human right to a home.

Most American’s image of squatters that we might be familiar with – punks, semi ‘homeless’ folks in abandoned buildings. Some even choose it as a lifestyle. But that stereotype blinds us to other ways of seeing people living on land/property without paying for it. How squatters are seen by society varies widely by region.

We are looking for several first person narratives, with squatters in different countries around the world, squatting for different purposes. Some possibilities include:

-The Philippines, where “vote-conscious politicians and the police have been reluctant to push out squatters, who register in large numbers to vote.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/14/world/asia/land-disputes-slow-recovery-in-philippines.html
-Venezuela (-Torre David, the “world’s tallest squat” in Caracas.)
-Kenya, Where the Constitution recognises the right of former hunter-gatherers to their ancestral forest lands
http://allafrica.com/stories/201401150580.html?page=4
-Denmark (Christiana)
-Berlin, where seniors squatted in a community center to avoid eviction.
-MST landless workers movement in Brazil

The last several years has also seen occupations of foreclosed or other unoccupied homes throughout the US and Europe—technically these people are ‘squatting’ too, but has this movement changed public perceptions of squatters— something besides the“dirty punk” image?

LOW WAGE WORKERS MOVEMENT/MINIMUM WAGE

Over the past year or so, we’ve been watching workers at Wal-mart, fast food chains and elsewhere begin to stand up for higher wages, and change public perception of who they are and what they deserve. At the same time, cities are debating and instituting) minimum wage increases of up to $15/hour.
We’d like unique approaches to this show–not just a profile of a campaign to raise the minimum wage in your local town…Perhaps a profile of a particular organizer…A large company that voluntarily raised wages when workers asked…An especially strange coalition of supporters for higher wages. We know this story has been covered elsewhere, so we’d like to do it with a focus on the grassroots and the ideas at stake, not just the numbers and votes.

THE FEMALE BODY AS A TOOL FOR CHANGE

We have already commissioned a piece on the Ukranian-based group known as Femen, groups of women who cover their exposed breasts with calls to end patriarchy. Theres no shortage of controversy about what constitutes an ethical and effective use of women’s bodies to advance social change. Who controls the imagery? Does it do more damage than good? Is it feminist? Does it need to be? We are interested in stories that use real examples to explore these questions–which may not have any clear answers or consensus.

  • **Note: we get occasional pitches about feminist or other forms of pornography. Feel free to pitch these for this show, but they must contain a wide variety of perspectives and views. Porn is such a complex issue in itself, we might just wait and do a separate show on it at some future time.

    VOTING RIGHTS

    In 2013, the Supreme Court eliminated provisions in the Voting Rights Act designed to protect voters from intimidation and disenfranchisement tactics. The ruling lifted restrictions on nine states that now allow them to change their election laws without advance federal approval. These are jurisdictions that have had a history of enacting racially biased election practices. What are the implications of lifting these restrictions? What is happening in jurisdictions previously under federal oversight? Are we seeing any questionable voting practices being pushed? What’s protections do voters have now? We are looking for first person accounts of voter disenfranchisement.

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    • SPECIFICATIONS

    Making Contact is an award-winning, 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 generally pay $450 per story. 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’re also always interested in pitches on any of our regular beats: prisons, poverty, climate change, reproductive health, and the environment.

    We look forward to hearing from you!

    Laura Flynn, Jasmin Lopez, Andrew Stelzer & George Lavender
    Making Contact producers