[Imc-radio] Radio news stipend
Dave Berliner
daveberliner at mac.com
Thu Aug 25 12:12:14 CDT 2005
Here is a background on the funding issue.
[Imc-radio] WEFT to subscribe to IMC Radio News
Thu Aug 12 11:18:55 CDT 2004
The PC also approved on-going funding of the IMC Radio News at $20/week
for
the next fiscal year (October 1, 2004 - September 30, 2005). IMC Radio
News
airs every Monday on WEFT from 5:30pm-6pm. It is produced by a
collective
of local volunteer grassroots citizen journalists at the IMC and is
WEFT's
only weekly, pre-produced local news program. WEFT has carried IMC
Radio
News since 2001. For the past two years, the PC has allocated a
stipend of
several hundred dollars to IMCRN. We received a proposal from them a
year
ago for on-going funding. We decided to fund them on an on-going basis
for
the next year for several reasons including WEFT's commitment to local
news
and the show's consistency, growth and quality. Another reason is the
reality of WEFT's current capabilities. At this time, WEFT neither has
the
infrastructure, facilities, nor equipment to internally sustain
creation of
a weekly, pre-produced local news program. By subscribing to the IMC
Service, WEFT is able to keep local news in our line-up. We also liked
the
idea of supporting a local sister organization that provides and trains
local folks in audio equipment use, editing and news gathering, and that
includes WEFTies.
WEFT is also sending the IMC a check for $694 as a stipend for last
year's services.
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-------------------------
Subject: [Imc-radio] request for WEFT funding
Date: Wed Jul 28, 2004 12:40:18 PM America/Chicago
Dear WEFT PC members,
The Radio group of the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center has two
requests for the Programming Committee.
1) Subscription Renewal
2) Rebroadcasting opportunities for IMCRN
1) Subscription Renewal
The UCIMC would like to request that WEFT renew its subscription for IMC
Radio News for FY 04-05). The cost is $40/week, for a total of $2080.
WEFT's subscription would help sustain the production of IMC Radio
News, a
30 minute news and analysis show which folks in our community produce
each
week, and which airs on WEFT at 5:30 pm every Monday.
Last Spring, WEFT purchased 20 weeks of IMCRN for the same weekly price.
This allowed the show to continue through the Spring and into the
Summer.
Each week, community members are invited to help produce IMCRN. No
experience is necessary. Training, mentoring, equipment, and facilities
are provided to the public at no cost, with the hope that by making the
creation of news accessible to everyone we can democratize our media and
strengthen our community. There have been over 100 participants in
IMCRN
since it began, ranging in age from 16 to 70. Often IMCRN reporters
have
never held a microphone, but in the end they produce compelling pieces
which express their views and help add another color to the WEFT
spectrum
of programming.
WEFT currently pays for several nationally syndicated programs. The
arrangement with IMCRN is similar - a set subscription fee per week of
programming, along with grants and private donations, sustains the show.
We believe IMCRN is the perfect local counterpart to national programs
like Free Speech Radio News, Democracy Now, and Making Contact. Just
like
those programs, the time and financial commitments to produce these
shows
is immense. IMCRN production averages 1 - 1.5 hours of input for every
minute of programming and involves 3-6 people every show. WEFT does not
currently have the equipment or structure to produce such a show
in-house.
Community radio stations, such as WORT in Madison and KCSB in Santa
Barbara to name just a few, have found that some expenditure is required
to sustain local news programming.
Typical weekly costs for producing IMCRN are:
Show coordination: $145
Flyers: $2 (amortized)
Media supplies: $2
Media equipment (to replace one Minidisc player, one microphone, and
cables every year): $15
Phone calls: $2 (That's an hour of long distance)
Computer equipment: $50 (amortized)
TOTAL: $216/week
This does not figure in utilities and rent, paying for stories, or
technical production. WEFT's contribution of $40/week would help to
sustain part of the cost of IMCRN, with the remaining $176/week coming
from donations and grants.
2) Rebroadcasting opportunities for IMCRN
IMCRN is seeking ways to rebroadcast all or portions of the show.
Typically when a radio station produces local news programming, elements
of the local news are repeated throughout the day, often at the top of
the
hour. This provides listeners with the service of keeping them abreast
of
current, local events. WEFT currently runs national NPR headlines this
way throughout the day but not local news.
An IMCRN show typically consists of the following components:
1) Disclaimer, theme music, and introduction (3 minutes)
2) Headlines (5 minutes)
3) A commentary piece (5 minutes)
4) 1-2 public service announcements (2 minutes)
3) 1-3 feature stories (5-15 minutes each)
We would imagine that at least the headlines and feature stories would
be
likely candidates for rebroadcast. Perhaps the entire show could be
rebroadcast as well.
IMCRN is interesting in generating ideas with WEFT of how to rebroadcast
local news items produced as part of the show. We would like to then
take
these ideas and formulate a proposal.
Thank you for your consideration. We hope to be able to continue to
provide local news programming to WEFT.
On Thursday, August 25, 2005, at 11:18 AM, Molly Stentz wrote:
> Hi Radio folks,
>
> I haven't produced radio in a long time due to my work schedule, but I
> do care about the group, the show, and the IMC, so I'm going to chime
> in.
>
> The center of the issue seems to be the stipend from WEFT for the
> production of the IMC radio news hours. I have some questions I am
> hoping someone can answer to help us work through this.
>
> 1. How much is the stipend and when will it be distributed to the IMC?
>
> 2. What would the IMC radio news group do with such a stipend if the
> group has dissolved?
>
> 3. What are reasons for an IMC reporter/producer not getting paid for
> producing IMC radio news?
>
> (One reason I have heard is that it was never discussed or agreed upon
> by the radio news collective. This seems legitimate. What are other
> reasons, if any? Since it could be discussed and/or agreed upon by
> radio news members now, that issue could be addressed and resolved, if
> there was a desire.)
>
> I hate to see this strife. I am also wondering out loud about the
> collective resistance for paying for work. I think I understand some,
> but clearly not all of the rationale. There are both several job
> functions that are paid at the IMC and also many, many people who do
> valuable work who do not get paid -willingly! These do not seem to be
> at odds and are both valuable.
>
> I wonder if the IMC Radio News would be more functional and stable if
> it was able to structure itself in a way that supported and enabled
> its reporters and producers to sustain their involvement. This is just
> a question. Producing for FSRN is one option, are there others?
>
> -Molly
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Imc-radio at lists.ucimc.org
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