Ticker: X-Factor odds with special guest Tony Cowell

story ticker

---

Today’s freelance story ticker

Afternoon again, bloggers!

Today, our story ticker is drumming up a nice surprise for all you X-Factor and celebrity fans.

The Global for me team plus a certain special someone is proud to present the following story pitch:

• X-Factor odds by the GFM Team and special guest Tony Cowell

The new series of X-Factor doesn’t begin until next month but already the bookies have been giving odds.

Paddy Power is offering odds for a winner from one of the younger categories- 7/4 that the winner is from the boys group and 15/8 for a girl winner. No group has ever won X-Factor but they are being backed at 3/1 with the over 25’s least favourite at 4/1.

All these odds, numbers and demographics pose the question, what does it really take to win X-Factor? With huge amounts of cash at stake- is there a formula for success? Where does the power lie- with the judges or the public?

We welcome to the Global For Me team, Tony Cowell, brother of X-Factor judge and creator Simon. Tony has over the years had unparralled X-Factor access and knows better than anyone the inner workings of the X-Factor machine.

For the inside track on all things X-Factor at GFM we can deliver the backstage stories and more.

Read the original pitch on our main website.

As some may already know – yes, Tony Cowell is the older brother of famed X-Factor, American Idol, Britain’s Got Talent TV personality Simon Cowell. Read more about the endeavors of Tony Cowell on his official website.

This is another unique opportunity to connect to the reporter behind the news desk. E-mail or comment your interest to GFM right away if you’re interested… X-Factor is soon to return to television, so there’s a bit of a deadline with this one!

Also, don’t forget to browse our other story tickers for this week. Here’s a list of some of the proposed topics below:

• Will Afghanistan make it to the polls? by Jerome Starkey
• What happens after Kim Jong Il’s Death? by Jason Strother
• Sri Lankan concentration camps by Florence Muchori
• Mexico: the affects of the drug trade by Ioan Grillo
• How is Iraq coping alone? by Neil Arun
• Cyber warfare: US, S. Korea versus N. Korea? by Nancy Youssef

Interested? Drop us a line. Don’t hesitate to ask questions if you’re curious about the Fund-a-Story process.

All the best,

Kim

–GFM Team

---

E-mail your story ideas to  

Join our discussions on Twitter. @GFMEditor

• Read our Global for me challenge. Make the news work for you.

• Interested in helping make this stories come to light? Hop over to the Fund a Story page.

Advertisement

Ticker: Afghanistan elections, danger at the polls

news ticker

---

Today’s freelance story ticker

Afternoon, bloggers.

A quick little ticker from the Global for me main website today. Although it’s about a month from now, we’re looking ahead to the Afghanistan presidential election.

Kit of the GFM Team pitched the following on our main website:

• Will Afghanistan make it to the polls? by Jerome Starkey

KABUL, Afghanistan – On the 20th of August 2009, the Afghani people head to the polls in order to elect their President. However deteriorating security, with July one of the bloodiest months of the campaign so far, is raising concerns that the elections which have already been delayed once, may not be able to take place as scheduled. Read on.

Does this sound like an interesting story to you? Let GFM know, and we’ll e-mail Jerome. Don’t hesitate to throw in your two cents on what else you’d like to see from Afghanistan, and what format you’d like to see the report produced in.

Jump over to our Exclusives blog page to see what GFM followers have accomplished in the past with crowd funded journalism.

And if you’d like to do a little research on Jerome as a correspondent, head over to his Global Radio News profile as well as his YouTube channel.

Cheers! The GFM Team continues to work hard to connect you to the reporter behind the news desk. Special thanks to Jerome for working hard in the field in Afghanistan. Be careful, mate.

Till tomorrow,

Kim

–GFM Team

---

E-mail your story ideas to  

Join the day’s discussion on Twitter. @GFMEditor

“At the tip of the surge” – another video from Helmand, Afghanistan

update

---

for [Stories from Helmand]

Morning, bloggers!

Freelancer Jerome Starkey continues to upload videos from Helmand, Afghanistan to his YouTube Channel.

Here’s a second video of his work in an area hard-hit by the war in Afghanistan, “At the tip of the surge.”

Thank you, Jerome.

Jerome is the first British journalist to report from this region without the military in over a year. It’s freelance reporting about the locals’ points of view: their opinion of foreign troops, the military surge and how war has affected their lives.

We’re not sure what else is in store from Jerome. Keep close watch on his channel to see what else he may upload in the coming days. We’ll be sure to keep close watch, too.

Kim

–GFM Team

---

E-mail your story ideas to  

If you want to buy these stories for broadcast, contact CEO Henry Peirse of Global Radio News at henry@globalradionews.com.

Special thanks to Jerome Starkey for his work in the field.

Video from Afghanistan’s “Little America” – founded 1950s, then forgotten

update

---

for [Stories from Helmand]

Afternoon again, bloggers!

Jerome Starkey e-mailed us an update from Helmand, Afghanistan.

Jerome is reporting in an area hard hit by the war in Afghanistan, but he also uncovered a strange world leftover from years past: Little America, a region in Afghanistan that he describes as “build on the sand” by US aid dollars in the 1950s, then forgotten.

Here’s an update on Jerome’s work via his YouTube channel.

Thanks for your hard work, Jerome.

To our readers: if you’d like to see more, head over to Jerome’s YouTube channel to view more videos, or read our original blog post about his proposed work. More donations can help this story reach its fullest.

As always, feel free to contact or comment on this developing story.

Kim

–GFM Team

---

E-mail your story ideas to  

If you want to buy these stories for broadcast, contact CEO Henry Peirse of Global Radio News at henry@globalradionews.com.

Special thanks to Jerome Starkey for his work in the field.

Stories from Helmand, Afghanistan – report or no report?

just in…

---

UPDATE: This story pitch was supported by users and produced by freelancer Jerome Starkey. The videos – “At the tip of the surge” and “Helmand’s Little America” – can be seen in our Exclusives section.

Morning, bloggers!

Kim here, with today’s possible story update from Global for me.

Consider this a fast-forming habit: on a weekly or even daily basis (pending on how news flies), GFM will look ahead and uncover story possibilities using our own resources.

Remember, GFM is an offshoot of freelance news agency, Global Radio News. And since our GRN parent manages 600 freelance correspondents throughout the world, occasionally a neat story may come up from where you least expect.

It’s all about connecting to the reporter behind the news desk – or in this case, the reporter working in the field.

So here’s something from one of our correspondents in Afghanistan…

---

Stories from Helmand, Afghanistan

by Freelancer Jerome Starkey

HELMAND, Afghanistan – Exclusive report from the heart of Helmand, by freelancer Jerome Starkey, pictured right.

What do ordinary people in Afghanistan think about western troops, the Taliban and the renewed American military surge? A look into the politics and anxieties of wartime.

In the personal scope, how are displaced or separated families? What of those that have lost relatives since the bombs fell in 2001? How is life eight years later? A look into the human cost of war, on a local scale.

Also: a bizarre result of the 20th century. Afghans are quick to remind British troops of their three bloody defeats under the Raj decades ago, but bizarrely, in Lashkar Gah, locals have fond memories of the Americans. The town was largely built on US aid dollars in the 1950s as Moscow and Washington competed for influence. It used to be called “Little America.” There are rows of 1950s-style houses built for American development staff.

Today, that same aid infrastructure is used to irrigate the poppy fields, which often leads to money in Taliban pockets. It remains to be seen if American dollars can wean Afghani people off poppies and the Taliban.

From Jerome’s e-mail:

Sent: 21 June 12:48
Subject: Story Ideas: Lashkar Gah

A trips come together very last minute. I am heading down to Lashkar Gah tomorrow (from Kabul) on the first commercial air service in 30 years. I’m desperate to find a video buyer for a few complete packages.

As far as I know it will be the first time there’s been a British journalist in Lash, without the military, for a year – so it’s virgin territory in terms of access and stories.

GFM brings light to this story on the day of a new US troop surge under President Barack Obama, the first of his presidency. Read the full pitch on our main website here.

---

What’s next?

To get this story told, GFM needs both user interest and donations to pay for this correspondent’s work.

In this case, the donated money goes to freelancer Jerome Starkey, for working hard in the field and bringing this story to you.

Think of it as simply paying for a story you can’t find anywhere else.

Think on it, consider it. Share your ideas with us by e-mail or in the comment box below.

If you’re already interested in making this story happen, let us know straight away!

See you!

Kim

–GFM Team

---

E-mail your story ideas to  

GFM would like to thank Flickr user shuttermonkey for the light bulb graphic used in this post.