A CONVERSATION WITH LOREN JENKINS - NPR's FOREIGN DESK EDITOR
Conversation from Summer 2006 with NPR Liaison to Independent Producers, Paul Ingles

This is the second of a three part series spotlighting three U.S. reporting outlets that are keenly interested in reporting that crosses international borders. Stories that find that local/global connection and/or stories that bring listeners ears into other countries.

Remember that as NPR Liaison to Independent Producers, I'm available for question about pitches, possible outlets for stories, or general advice about maneuvering through the public radio landscape. E-mail first please: paul@paulingles.com

LOREN JENKINS is NPR’s Foreign Desk Editor

Where is NPR around the world these days?

We have 16 foreign bureaus. One has two reporters. So that’s 17 staff reporters overseas. Then we have some floating reporters. We have about 20 to 24 staff and contract reporters. (List of existing NPR bureaus below).

How much do you end up working with independent producers around the world?

Well it depends. We work closely with some who’ve been sort of regulars – people we know. Others, not so much. It depends on what they’re pitching and what their expertise is. Obviously we now have, which we didn’t have 10 years ago, quite a foreign staff of people who cover regions in detail – like Iraq and China and places like that. So what I look for, if someone makes a pitch, is if they have comparable expertise. We don’t take up something from someone who comes to us out of the blue without getting to know them first.

Right, so if you haven’t worked with a particular independent producer before who wants to file from overseas, how do you prefer to be approached?

Well, I’d like to get tape of something they’ve done before. Some background on them. A short bio, maybe a disc of other work they’ve done so that we know that they can do it and that it’s good work.

So you’re willing to invest some time into finding out whether someone you’ve never heard of before could be helpful?

Yes, absolutely. Even with 24 reporters, there’s always room for more. We don’t have everyone that we need. It’s a big world out there. My advice to independents is to sort of look at where we are. Their best hope of getting something on with us is to go where we’re not. Since we have a bureau in Moscow, then it’s not great to go there and say “I want to do something out of Moscow,” because we’re well covered there. But if they go to central Asia and Kazakhstan, where we don’t usually have someone assigned, it’d be more possible to get an assignment from us. We’re in most of the major capitals of the world now.

And that’s been growing, right?

Since I’ve been here over the last ten years, I was tasked with building up our foreign bureaus and we’ve added ten bureaus over the last ten years. We’re sort of adding one a year.

In the past we would have taken more freelance stuff than we would today simply because we wouldn’t have so many regular staff members available to file. So it’s harder now to find the stories that we’re NOT getting. And there are plenty of stories out there. Whoever really wants to pitch us something, they just really need to think it out. Like the Middle East, stuff out of Israel, etc. We’re all over that story in a big way. I’m not all that receptive to somebody coming out of the blue and saying they want to file from there.

I got an email from a producer this week who is spending some time overseas. She came across what seems like a great feature story about local culture. Can these things be of interest to you?

Oh yes! Those are the sort of story that our correspondents, who often get caught up in chasing the news, often don’t have time to do. So that’s one of those niche markets for freelancers. The cultural, “how people live” sorts of stories. All of those are grist for the mill.

So if a producer was looking to file an audio postcard kind of thing from overseas, you’d take a look at it?

Yes, I’d take a look at it. If it’s a good audio postcard, we’re open to that.

Are you editing all of this content or do you have others on the foreign desk who are editing as well?

We have others. I have a staff of about 5 editors and they tend to divide up regionally. There’d be some line editor that handles Europe, etc. But they should pitch to me first (ljenkins@npr.org).

Could you identify some best practices for filing to you?

It depends on the story. We want to know what the story is. How they’ll cover it. What’s their spin on it? What angle do they want to use? Write us a paragraph or two. Enough to give us some detail so we’ll know whether it’s something we’d be interested in or not. Also, if I don’t know them yet, include a bit about who you are. As I said, I’d want to hear a tape of something you’ve done before.

And these days, I’m guessing that the reporter in the field has to have a laptop and be able to FTP files?

Absolutely, they have to be able to FTP us, at least. We take a lot of stuff FTP, ISDN, or satellite phones. All those work. But I imagine most independents don’t have SAT Phones. Still they should be able to file to us digitally.

Any other tips?

We all need to learn how to write short. Some people think the longer it is, the better it is, and that’s not always the case. It can be a jewel of a piece in 3 ½ minutes if it’s written right. Sometimes it might be longer. But it seems a lot of freelancers think they have to make it long to make it work. And they should be familiar with NPR’s time slots. Because unless it’s a real “knock-your-socks-off” sort of piece, we don’t break format. So our formats include different blocks. But most of our pieces come in at the 5 minute range. There are also 3 ½ minute blocks. A nice audio postcard piece can be done short and sweet. If you come in at 14 minutes, it’s usually just not going to work.

Anything else about writing?

We’re looking good writers. Good writing equals good radio. Good use of sound. Something that sings. Always delighted when we get a great piece.

NPR FOREIGN BUREAUS

1. London
2. Rome
3. Berlin
4. Moscow
5. Istanbul
6. Jerusalem
7. Cairo
8. Baghdad
9. New Delhi
10. Hanoi
11. Beijing
12. Shanghai
13. Cape Town
14. Dakar
15. Mexico City
16. Rio dei Janeiro

NPR HAS CONTRACT REPORTERS BASED IN:

1. Paris
2. Johannesburg
3 Tblisi, Georgia
4. Kabul