[grc] Call for Pitches from Making Contact

[Lisa Rudman]

Hello GRC friends,
We are always looking for good pitches for segments or whole episodes of Making
Contact.  <https://www.radioproject.org/>

We're open to a variety of topics with these *guidelines
<https://www.radioproject.org/production/submission-guidelines/>* in mind.

A few times a year we also call out for pitches on specific topics so
please pass this message below from our producers to your station and
community folks. --Thanks!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Lisa Rudman, Executive Director, *Making Contact*

*###*

Do you have a story with perspectives on an ongoing local, national, or
global issue? Do you have access to voices and perspectives that get lost
in mainstream media landscape? How are people working to cope, and change
things?

If so, consider pitching to Making Contact!  We’re looking for pitches from
freelancers on several themes.

Seeking Pitches

Immigration: We want your pitches! We’re looking for character-driven
stories that focus on how immigrant communities are organizing.

Here are some themes we’re interested in exploring:

   -

   The Muslim Ban is in effect, Southeast Asians have been swept up in
   large numbers to private prisons, how are communities responding?
   -

   How are communities organizing outside of the electoral process to
   influence politics locally and/or nationally?
   -

   How are groups working against far right politics?

Got an idea, let us know!

Climate Change: “Climate Resilience” and “Just Transition” are terms used
by environmental justice advocates and academics to mean various things. We
want sound-rich stories that explore these terms in practice. How are
communities working not just to survive but thrive? How are low-income
communities of color, expected to be hit hardest by climate change
developing ways now to cope “later?” Unequal impacts of climate change on
women?

International Stories and communities...

We’re looking for stories that break out of the gloom and doom, and make
policy discussions accessible, or give a glimpse of people coming together
to take steps now.  Pitch us stories about various bottom-up and grassroots
organizing methods and tactics against privatization, land grabs, U.S.
military presence, economic experiments etc.

In addition to the above, we’re always interested in pitches on any of our
ongoing beats: prisons, poverty, reproductive health, racial justice,
climate change and environmental justice.

Specifications

Making Contact is an award-winning, 29-minute weekly
magazine/documentary-style public affairs program heard on 120 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 with an emphasis on creative ways to solve
problems.  We’re interested in pitches for sound-rich segments of approx. 7
minutes.

As with any pitches you send us, please check out our show and read
our guidelines
<http://www.radioproject.org/production/submission-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?

Current rates!

Level 1. $800 plus travel reimbursement up to $100

“Involve research and original reporting • Require the reporter to have
substantial subject matter expertise • Involve time-consuming reporting •
Have a sophisticated narrative • Require travel by the reporter • Have
sound that does not involve phone tape • Be rich in a variety of sounds
demonstrative or supportive of the story.”

Level 2. $500 plus travel reimbursement up to $100

“Involve multiple interviews • Involve interviews conducted where the
interviewee is carrying on activities relevant to the story • Involve
sound, scenes, and advanced radio storytelling techniques • Involve
reporter having good prior knowledge of subject matter”

BTW:  Full 26 min Documentary  $1000 for veteran producers to do a full
documentary edition. An exclusive is not necessary but air dates need to be
discussed.

Send pitches to pitches at 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!

-- RJ Lozada, Marie Choi, Anita Johnson, Monica Lopez