Here’s the joint press release from AIR and PRNDI. I’m happy to be a part of this project as the system can certainly benefit from employing more independent contractors.
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Release date: October 30, 2013
Contact: Susanna Capelouto, [email protected]
AIR and PRNDI Stoke Local News Fire
Effort underway to build roadmap for indie contributors and stations
newsrooms
Boston: AIR will partner with Public Radio News Directors Inc.(PRNDI) to
develop resources designed to encourage and support public radio stations
and independent producers interested in working more closely together.
AIR
has tapped veteran journalist Susan Capelouto to lead the effort, which
begins this week. Capelouto, a long-standing AIR member and former news
director for Georgia Public Broadcasting, most recently served as an editor
for CNN Radio.
A 2012 study led by media consultant and AIR member
Michael Marcotte brought insight into the capacity of local newsrooms. His
comprehensive survey revealed mixed results on local content production.
Nearly half the surveyed stations produce an hour or less of local news
programming per weekday. At the other end of the spectrum, a quarter of the
stations produce 21⁄2 hours or more of programming each day.
There is, according to AIR, a gradual uptick in requests coming in from
stations, primarily for guidance on how to work with outside contributors.
This is one reason for establishing standards, says AIR Executive Director
Sue Schardt.
“We believe that AIR’s network of 1,000 producers spanning the
country, is an important resource for station newsrooms interested in
enhancing their local broadcast and digital streams,” says Schardt. “We
have exceptional and exciting producers available as ready collaborators
and contributors.”
Stations around the U.S. rely on freelance content to add diversity,
enhance their “sense of place,” fulfill grant requirements, or fill gaps in
their schedules. But how much should stations expect to pay freelancers?
Some pay by the minute, others have a flat fee per story or program.
“There’s no question news directors want to provide fair pay for freelance
work. But we sometimes struggle with knowing what ‘fair’ is,” says PRNDI
President George Bodarky.
“We hope this effort with AIR will help inform us
on industry standards, as well as strengthen the case for outside
investment to grow local journalism using freelance talent. This could be
especially useful for stations unable to expand their full-time staffing,”
says Bodarky.
The work will be modeled after the standards developed for AIR by
independent producers Karen Michel, Jeff Lunden and Wes Horner to guide
national distribution rates
and standards.
This system,
first developed in 2002, takes into account the complexity of each story
and the producer’s work experience. These guidelines don’t always translate
to local stations with fewer editorial resources and limited programming
budgets.
Capelouto has enlisted Marcotte and Michel along with a team of advisors,
including independent producer Katie Davis, PRPD President Arthur Cohen,
and news and program directors at stations of varying size, budget, and
location on their use of freelance content.
Station-based advisors include
Tanya Ott, vice president of radio for Georgia Public Broadcasting; Sally
Eisele, managing editor of public affairs for WBEZ; George Bodarky,
president of PRNDI and news director of WFUV, New York; and Jim Gates,
senior editor at KUOW.
If you have any question or would like to help with the project, please
contact Susanna Capelouto at [email protected]
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Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (PRNDI) is
nonprofit professional association that exists to improve local news and
information programming by serving public radio journalists. PRNDI
educates, advocates, and organizes to promote high standards, ethical
principles, and significant public service. PRNDI works to strengthen the
skills, capacity, and professional position of news directors, and through
them, strengthen public radio’s local news and public affairs efforts in
ways that are embraced by audiences, station leaders, networks, and
supporters.
AIR is a vibrant international production network made up of public media
journalists, documentarians, technicians, media entrepreneurs, and sound
artists with a core expertise in independent audio production. The
Boston-based organization identifies, cultivates, and deploys members to
deepen understanding of and bring enlightenment to citizens worldwide. Its
training programs and productions are defining and driving an expanding
media landscape spanning digital/technology, broadcast, and street media
platforms — challenging and inspiring other media-makers to join us at
AIRmedia.org. Its most recent national
initiative, Localore, comprised a broad
coalition of more than 200 independent, station-based, community, and
technology producers inventing new, blended media storytelling formats to
reflect the story of America in a new way. The audience across two dozen
broadcast, digital, and “street” media platforms was more than 28 million.
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Links:
NPR rates: http://bit.ly/KDOYq4
AIR term sheet for negotiation: http://bit.ly/17xebS1
Local news study: http://localnpr.org/