Podcasting to rabbit-hole dwellers everywhere...
CONTRIBUTOR SEARCH (WRITERS/MUSICIANS)
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SEARCHING FOR CONTRIBUTORS:
We're looking for contributors to our new podcast, Rabbit Hole, Daily. (We are available in iTunes!) We're a podcast for "immigrants": we're broadcasting to/looking for
anyone who is trying to assimilate into another culture. (immigrants,
emigrants, expatriates, academics, aid workers, refugees, foreign
businesspeople, spouses of "foreigners" etc.)
Requirements for Contributing: (written work)
*
You must be an "immigrant" (i.e., a Mexican living in Canada, or a
Scot living in France, a Dane living in Japan, an Ecuadorian living in
Brazil, an Australian living in New Zealand, a New Zealander living in Egypt, etcetera, etcetera.)
* You
must have lived in your current country of residence for more than 4
months, and NOT be an exchange student to your current country. We
need long-term contributors.
* You must be dedicated to
contributing every 8-10 weeks for a year. (Minimum of 3 articles in a
year: you may contribute all of them all at one time, if you'd like.)
*
If you are a student, it would be great if you were a master's student,
24 or older. We would count these people under the "academic" label,
and not the "student" label. (see note below) This rule also applies,
obviously, to backpackers. If you're backpacking through South America
for 3 months, you wouldn't be able to contribute. If you're
backpacking/working your way through South America for 3 years, please
contact us!
* It would be great (but not absolutely necessary) if
you had access to a microphone, to get us some sounds from your
community.
* An article will be composed of 2-3 pages. (10-15 minutes) You will need to find a microphone to read the article. (If you are contributing anonymously, you'll need to find someone to read it for you. This could even be done long-distance over Skype.) After the raw audio is finished, you can do the editing, or we can. If you
complete the preliminary editing, it may be necessary to alter the
story a bit for time, continuity, etc.
* If you absolutely don't have access to a microphone, we'll read your written article on our end.
*
Equipment: If you have a microphone, great. You could also, of course,
use the microphone on your mp3 player, cellular, or laptop. Some radio
stations, university recording studios, and/or private recording
studios are happy to have people come in after-hours to use their
professional facilities. (sometimes for free, sometimes for a very
small price.)
* If you are editing your own work: you may use any editing software you'd like, but we're using Audacity. It's free for mac and windows, and relatively easy for newbees to learn quickly.
* We will also accept photos (even those taken from a cell phone) regarding your article to post on the site.
*
Articles should be just that, articles, (about 2 pages single-spaced)
based on a theme or topic. We are not an audio blog or diary.
* Please read the description of our program, we hope our articles will be eclectic, creative entertaining,
and informative. We're big fans of the radio program This American
Life, and the Slate podcasts, to give some examples. A great example
of what we're looking for can be found on a podcast called: PRI's the
World: Technology. Episode #103 features an article called "Universal
Design". It's great. An article for us could even be a bit lighter.
* You do NOT need to be mother-tongue English, but need to speak it well.
* We cannot accept audio work submitted on cassette tape. Audio submitted to us must be digital: .mp3 or .wav format.*
You must sign a release form. Our release form states that we may use
your work (now and in the future) in written form, as well as
podcast/radio transmissions. Under no circumstance will you be paid
for your submissions to us. We will place a link to you on our
"contributors" page, with your contact information.
* To answer a FAQ:
We do accept work from indigenous groups of people who live on (for
lack of a better term) "disputed land". We understand that they are
not immigrants, but fall under a special category. They do live within
two cultures, have an important voice, and thus are welcome to
contribute. Examples of such groups would include but are not limited
to: Native-Americans living on Reservations in the United States,
Tibetans living in China, Palestineans (and some other groups) living
in the Middle East. Most of our pieces are about everyday life; and
our goal is to understand and unite people.
* To answer another FAQ: You may contribute for us anonymously
(many businesspeople or illegal immigrants have asked to do so) but you
MUST have a friend that is willing to read your work for you under your
pen-name. (I have an American accent; and apart from the fact that I
don't have time to read everyone's pieces, many pieces sound "off" when
I read them "American".) We'd of course prefer people who are willing
to write under their real names. If you don't have a professional
microphone, don't worry; it's not too difficult to find one, or there's always skype... we can find a way.
This would
be a great opportunity to get some of your work out there, perhaps even
work you've already completed. It will also be great to "vent" and
share challenges you're having in your new country, and connect with
the world! We're hoping to get a contributor on/from every continent.
NOTE:
We are not currently accepting work from students on exchange.
Exchange students (and we're generalizing here) have a tendency to make
friends with other exchange students, not learn the local language or
customs and talk a lot about what fast food restaurants they miss.
They also are pre-programmed to leave in 6 months or a year, so they
don't tend to feel the weight of immigrating, because they're already
planning to leave.
SEARCHING FOR MUSICIANS/COMPOSERS TO CONTRIBUTE:
Requirements for Contributing: (musical pieces)
* We are also looking for other 15-30 second musical clips to put into various points in the show.
*
It would be great if the clips had at least one of the following
themes: "falling" feeling, urban, ethnic, electronic, "lost" feeling,
"curious" feeling. These are the themes of the show (see homepage).
If
we use your clip, we will mention your name every time we use the clip
on the podcast. We will also link to any website or contact info you
may have. If you have a riff that you haven't used, or work that
you've already completed that matches the above description, please
submit!
CONTACT INFO:
rabbitholedaily@hotmail.com
