this should give you an idea about pitches that will be considered for the panel.
Pitch for Weekend America. Zen and the Art of Golf…
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Weekend America is about what is happening in America this weekend. All over the country, people are going out and playing golf, and so this story about golf would be perfect for the show. The peg for the story could be the day of the tournament I'm covering, Sunday May 20th. More important, the story will say a lot about what Americans do on the golf course and why they devote their lives to golf. I've heard a lot of stories on Weekend America that are similar to this.
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The Shivas Irons Society is celebrating its 15th anniversary with a tournament in San Francisco on May 20th. If you’re not into golf, you’ve probably never heard of Shivas Irons – but he’s the protagonist of the most successful golf novel ever written. The story will focus on a golf pro, 86 year old Sandy Tatum, who will be there on the course that day. He's devoted his life to golf, but not in the way you might think. His crusade, through the Shivas society, has been to democratize golf for poor kids. We'll follow him on the course, we'll talk with him about his life and his crusade, and we'll find out how Eastern philosophy and golf come together on the course.
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We'll really get a sense of being there, on the golf course. We'll hear the ball being hit; we'll hear the ball go into the hole with the traditional rattle. And we'll hear how the golf that's played by these devotees is different from the game you and me might play on the weekend. We'll be a fly on the wall — hearing the interplay between players, and through that interplay, we'll learn what's different about Shivas golf. At the end, we'll get the feeling of having played a round of golf, and having learned about Tatum and his confederates.
I have more than 5 years experience in radio. My email address is menschmedia-at-yahoo.com. Home phone xxx-xxx-xxxx, cell in Chicago xxx-xxx-xxxx.
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The pitch above is fictional, but based on a real story produced for NPR by Steve Mencher. If you're interested in this actual pitch, you can read more here. You'll find out about Paul Ingles, who works with AIR and NPR and independent producers helping hone their pitches. Paul is a great resource.
