[Imc-newsroom] IMC News Hour Proposal

[Danielle Chynoweth]

What follows is a proposal for a permanent slot on WEFT for the IMC News
Hour (somebody please find us a better name ... please).

Please review it and send feedback ASAP.  I would like to submit this to
WEFT Programming Committee members by Wednesday morning, so they can
review it at their Thursday meeting at 8 PM at WEFT. I have not yet
confirmed that we will be on the agenda.  When I do, I will let this list
know so that interested IMCers can show up to the PC meeting.

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WEFT Proposal for the IMC News Hour

Submitted August 20, 2001
By Danielle Chynoweth, member, IMC News Collective
Contact: danielle at onthejob.net  or  344-0183


PROPOSED SHOW
The News Collective of the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media wishes to
submit to the Programming Committee of WEFT the following a proposal for a
regular time slot for its one hour show, the IMC News Hour.

PREFERRED TIME SLOT
Choice #1 ­ Mondays 6-7 PM.  Reason: Because 40-60 hours go into producing
the IMC News Hour, our volunteer journalists need the weekend to produce
the show.  Because it is a news show, it needs to be broadcast on Monday
to maintain relevance.  6 o¹clock is preferred because we feel that an
audience interested in local, independent news will be most available
after they have returned home from work.

Choice #2 ­ Mondays 5-6 PM.  Reason: all of the above, except we are
concerned workers would miss the first half of the show.  We may also lose
the audience we have built, who have learned to tune in Mondays at 6 PM
for the IMC News Hour.

Note: The IMC News Collective is eager to continue producing work for
broadcast on WEFT after its temporary slot is up September 3.   Our
preference is to be assigned a slot as soon as possible, rather than
waiting for our ideal slot to open.  Although there was a strong consensus
reached on our preferred time slot and duration, the IMC News Collective
is open to negotiating these with the Programming Committee to make our
offer fit within existing opportunities at WEFT.

SHOW DESCRIPTION
IMC News Hour is an hour-long, non-corporate, local news show.  In that
hour, roughly 10 minutes are given to news headlines, 15 minutes to focus
news pieces 3-7 minutes in length, 5 minutes to announcing upcoming local
events, and 30 minutes are given to an in-depth feature-length look at a
particular issue or event.  Although national and international events are
covered, emphasis is given to stories of local and regional significance.
Emphasis is also given to voices, stories, and points of view
underrepresented by other local media outlets.

THE SHOW¹S HISTORY
The IMC News Hour was produced and broadcast on WEFT both last Winter and
this Summer on Mondays from 6-7 PM.  During that time, IMC News Hour
features have provided an in-depth, local perspective on topics including:
The Champaign School¹s Racial Climate Survey, Local Latino Migrant Farm
Worker Issues, Local Biotech Issues, Local Grassroots Efforts to Curb
Illinois Power Tree Trimming Practices, and Local Urbana Gardening and
Permaculture projects.

We have also produced shows of regional significance such as a feature on
the Timothy McVeigh Execution in Terra Haute Indiana, the arrests of Gay
Rights activists in Springfield, the Tree Sitting Protests in Bloomington,
Indiana, and a report-back from the Alternative Energy Fair in Wisconsin.

Several shows have had international significance.  The IMC sent 16
citizen-journalists to report on the protests against the Free Trade Area
of the Americas in Quebec City.   The IMC then produced daily pieces for
WEFT¹s morning menu, offering an on-the-ground perspective of the
protests.  No other media outlet in the twin cities sent their own
reporters to cover the event.  The IMC also produced a show on recent
anti-globalization activities in Brazil with footage gathered by IMC
reporters on the ground in Brazil.

The IMC has nationally syndicated segments of a number of its shows for
Free Speech Radio News and Independent Native News including the
Bunge-Lauhoff strikes, Bloomington Tree-Sits, local Chief debates, and the
Brazilian anti-globalization movement.  The IMC has a strong commitment to
being a regional provider for nationally syndicated news casts.

HOW THE IMC NEWS HOUR SERVES LISTENERS
The IMC News Hour is the only general, local news source without corporate
underwriting or sponsorship in town.  In a town dominated by a staunchly
conservative newspaper notorious for its bias and lack of fact-checking,
the IMC News Hour has consistently highlighted stories and points of view
otherwise buried or butchered by the mainstream.  Often the IMC is the
only source in town helping news consumers "read between the lines" and
hear essential facts missing from mainstream renditions of stories.  In
short, the IMC News Hour helps listeners be better participants in the
political decisions which affect their lives and their town.

HOW THE IMC NEWS HOUR DIFFERS FROM OTHER WEFT SHOWS
WEFT does not currently offer its audience a general local news show.
During the afternoon Courier, WEFT offers no locally produced content at
all. Locally produced, multi-issue news sorely lacking from WEFT¹s public
affairs line-up.

PROPOSEES CURRENT INVOLVEMENT AT WEFT
There are a number of IMC News Collective members who are involved with
WEFT, and the number continues to grow as the IMC encourages its members
to become trained airshifters and associates at WEFT.  Currently there are
six active WEFT volunteers in addition to eight to ten WEFT members in the
News Collective.

A NOTE ON ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
The IMC News Collective wishes to propose the IMC News Hour as a
collectively produced and run show, similar to other WEFT collectives such
as Womyn Making Waves and RadioGirl!

Being a WEFT airshifter or associate is not a necessary prerequisite to
participation in the Collective. Collective members who are trained
airshifters and WEFT associates in good standing will rotate
responsibility for airshifting a show.  Shows may be produced and hosted
on-air by non-WEFT airshifters as long as the show is engineered by a
trained WEFT airshifter.

Efforts have been and will continue to be made to have IMC News Collective
members become WEFT associates.

Members of the collective are individually and as a group bound to the
rules and regulations that govern WEFT¹s operation as a licensed radio
station and as a progressive and community-centered organization.
Collective members should be familiar with WEFT policies and documentation
surrounding those policies.

To ensure effective and consistent communication between the RadioGirl
Collective and WEFT, the Collective will choose one member to serve as the
IMC News Hour liaison. As of the date of this document, 8/20/01, Danielle
Chynoweth will act as the IMC News Hour liaison for WEFT.  When the person
in this liason role changes, the Programming Committee will be informed in
a timely manner.