[Imc-newsroom] weft proposal- READ ME NOW!

[Molly Stentz]

This is the draft of a proposal for the IMC News Hours on WEFT. (duh)
Sorry for the delay.. Please read and respond ASAP!!
 Anywhere there is a ?? or xx please fill in that info and send the
revised version back to the list, or add other info. Thanks!!! -Molly
 -=-=-

WEFT 90.1 FM
Proposal to the Programming Committee (PC)
for immediate action at April 12??, 2001 meeting
from
Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center (UCIMC)

Time Slots Requested:
1 Hour Weekly "Friday Forum" slot, Mondays 6-7pm

Duration:
15? weeks, from April 16, 2001 to September x, while Friday Forum is on
vacation and the slot is vacant

Proposal:

The UCIMC, a local community news service, will provide timely coverage of
news relevant to the U-C community, packaged in 1-hour weekly blocks,
called "News Hours". While the UCIMC will create, draft, record, engineer,
produce, edit, and air all News Hours, and will be solely responsible for
the content, it will continue to work with and solicit input and content
from other community organizations.

Narrative:

The UCIMC is an independent non-profit organization which provides
low-to-no cost news and information services. It seeks to empower
residents of East Central Illinois with tools needed to produce
citizen-driven media and multimedia.

The UCIMC currently operates a storefront, office, and production studio
at 218 W. Main in Downtown Urbana. It provides coverage of local,
regional, national, and international events, with emphasis on those
events relevant to the immediate communities of Urbana-Champaign (and
WEFT's listening audience). The UCIMC operates a website at
http://urbana.indymedia.org which reaches an international audience and
receives an average of over 750?? hits daily, in addition to producing
print content for local media outlets Black Thought, the Octopus, Illinois
Issues??, and ???, as well as audio content for WEFT 90.1 FM and WILL AM
580.

The UCIMC has already piloted the News Hours on WEFT on previous Friday
Forum slots on (dates xxx, xx, x,). They were met with much attention and
interest, receiving several call-ins during each of the shows and many
follow-up emails and comments, including praise, thank-yous, suggestions,
ideas, and invaluable constructive criticisms. We have since had the
opportunity to reflect upon past work and contributions, and await
opportunities to continue to enhance and expand upon our work and utilize
new ideas.

We believe that there is a wide and diverse audience hungry for local
affairs programming in the U-C area, as evidenced by the overwhelming
support the UCIMC has received since opening its doors in January.

This venture provides WEFT the opportunity to provide its listenership
access to an alternative, independent, thought-provoking, locally-produced
content, all at no additional cost or effort to WEFT.

Format:
The News Hours will follow the following format:

5 min: intro
15 min: news headlines
35 min: feature story (examples: interviews with local elected officials,
recorded lectures by interesting individuals, highlights on notable
community groups, etc)
5 min: outtro

In order for the News Hours to be highly effective, fresh, and
news-worthy, they will remain highly flexible as to the news content to
fill each of the weekly slots. News organizations cannot pre-produce very
far into the future, as stories may go "stale" before their airtime rolls
around. This format provides the optimum flexibility for listeners to have
fresh, current access to breaking stories.

Contact:
??? of the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center
384-8820 (UCIMC), ??? (home), ???? (email)

Enclosures:
Enclosed are 2 copies of UCIMC-produced News Hours, which aired on WEFT
during the regular Friday Forum slot in xxx. Also enclosed is an edited
copy of content to be featured in an upcoming newshour (proposed). (Ronnie
Cummins talk)

(Note: I need to come up with our favorite news hours. any suggestions???)

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