Ticker: X-Factor odds with special guest Tony Cowell

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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

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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.

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Ticker: Kim Jong Il, Sri Lanka concentration camps, Mexican drug trade, Iraq withdrawal, cyber warfare

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Today’s Freelance Story Ticker

Good morning, bloggers.

We have a slew of story possibilities for our ticker today. All of these are stories submitted by our freelancers – as the drill goes, if enough interest surfaces, we can roll out the story. If not, the stories will pass on and fade out.

A lot of stories simply go unreported, simply because there is no funding for them. GFM seeks to change that by using a crowdsourcing model to fund hardworking reporters – in other words, we need you.

It’s all about connecting you, the readers and viewers, to the reporter behind the news desk. Sometimes mainstream media simply miss other stories in the world that arise. Our goal is to bring them to you, and to support our freelancers that work hard to research and produce them. No middle man or coroporate interest involved. It’s news that goes straight to your inbox – it’s you from then on who chooses how to distribute it.

Read more about our mission here, or visit our main website.

For today, here is our story ticker, courtesy of Kit of the Global for me team. Click on the links below to read the full story pitch or view each correspondent’s Global Radio News profile.

• What happens after Kim Jong Il’s Death? by Jason Strother

N. KOREA – News leaked via a South Korean newspaper that Kim Jong-Il has pancreatic cancer has been greeted by many with suspicion, despite recent speculation about his health due to recent photographs showing him looking frail. Read on.

• Sri Lankan concentration camps by Florence Muchori

SRI LANKA: At the Manik Farm in Sri Lanka, displaced Tamils from the recent civil war are being detained- 1,400 people are dying every week. The Sri Lankan government is calling them “welfare villages”. The Sri Lankan government has asked the Red Cross to scale down their operation. The government claims to have the situation under control. Is this really the case? Read on.

• Mexico: the affects of the drug trade by Ioan Grillo

MEXICO – Mexican gangs have left eight dead, tortured bodies by a motorway. At the same spot last week they left four. Since President Calderon came to power in December 2006 over 12,300 people have died in drug related violence. Is this a futile war? Whilst the US has pleged £860 million to battle the cartels, this is but a drop in the ocean- the Mexican drug trade is worth £25 billion per year. Read on.

• How is Iraq coping alone? by Neil Arun

IRBIL, IRAQ – As US troops recently withdrew from Iraqi cities, citizens celebrated. A national holiday was declared. However there has been an upsurge in violence by those who wish to derail the transition. As the regular news outlets become numb to the daily violence in the middle east, and Iraq slides down their agenda we wonder… Will Iraqi forces be able to cope? With hindsight how do the Iraqi people feel about the withdrawal? Read on.

• Cyber warfare: US, S. Korea versus N. Korea? by Nancy Youssef

N. KOREA – US and South Korean governmental websites were recently attacked by a virus known as Mydoom. It wreaked havoc, taking some websites out of action for days. Blame initially was laid at the door of North Korea. Could it really have been them? Investigations have shown that in fact a server in Britain was orchestrating the attacks. But was this just a smokescreen? Read on.

If any of these stories caught your attention, piqued your curiosity or inspired another story idea, don’t hesitate to tell us or pass the word along. We rely on word-of-mouth, not corporate advertising. It’s telling the story and supporting freelancers – in the crowdsourced way. An experiment in journalism, and one that we use for them and you.

Cheers,

Kim

–GFM Team

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E-mail your story ideas to  

View our story ticker on our main website.

Join today’s discussion on Twitter. @GFMEditor

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Let yourself be heard in the comment box below. Liked a story? See something we missed? Don’t hesitate to let us know. We’re listening.