Introducing TFT's Reporting Program -- And a New Way to Make a Bit of Extra Cash

Sorry that I've been out of touch. We've been bogged down getting things going with Socialistic, the digital ad agency we've partnered with. The good news is that things are going pretty well with Socialistic. No major breakthroughs yet, but just having an office has been great, and I continue to feel very optimistic about our future. If you're ever in the Soho area, I hope you'll stop by the office to say hello (350 Hudson St, 9th Floor).

As I think I mentioned before, we entered into this partnership in the hopes that it would generate some money that we could pump back into the site. While we're still not earning so much at this point, there is a little extra money to go around, and we'd like to spread it out among TFT's writers. In the process, we're also hoping to get more reporting onto the site. Which brings me to...

The TFT Reporting Program:

Strategy: While we're anxious to publish more reporting, we don't think it makes sense for us to compete with the major news outlets at this point. Instead, our idea is to focus on the questions that aren't being asked. We don't have the resources of other papers, but I do think we can match any editorial team when it comes to creative thinking. So, the idea is really to read over everything that's out there on a given issue or story, and then to come up with a single, intriguing question that no one has asked. That's really all we need: one question and one answer or explanation. (One key will be to Google carefully to make sure that the answer to the questions isn't already out there.)

An example (though it's longer than what we'd need): After reading about Facebook-inspired crimes, Jeff Jarvis makes a call to the local police department and reveals that it's bullshit. One call and out...

http://www.buzzmachine.com/2010/09/15/the-real-facebook-burglaries-story/

Another example. Someone at the Daily Beast saw the now famous Situation Room photo and wondered who the woman in the back was:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-05-03/audrey-tomason-who-is-the-mystery-woman-in-the-situation-room-with-obama/

Going back to our zany roots (remember the Jetpacks section?), we also want to encourage you all to dream up and answer vaguely ridiculous questions. A random example: It was widely reported that Gaddaffi had major American pop stars perform for him and his cronies. But, as far as I know, no one found if Gaddaffi danced, and, if so, what sort of moves he has.

Today's story on Ben Laden, the Klezmer player with the unfortunate name, is another good example. That story began with one ridiculous question: "I wonder if there's some dude out there named Ben Laden..." Along these lines, semi-obscure "Where are they now?" pieces are also fair game.

What Topics Can You Pitch: Any topic works so long as it's relevant to a national audience. And you're free to pitch them on any topic, even if it's not your assigned topic -- in which case we'll run them directly on the section homepages or main homepage.

Pay: Payment for these pieces will be the standard ad revenue (next quarterly payments coming very soon, btw) + $30 bonus per reported piece. The $30 bonus will be paid immediately upon publication of the piece. It's hard to predict what will happen, but we expect these reported pieces to see more traffic and links than most articles.

I know it's still not very much money in the big scheme of things, so we, of course, understand if this program doesn't appeal to you -- there's certainly no obligation to participate. Because money is still tight, we'll probably run a maximum of 20-25 of these pieces a month to start out and then reevaluate.

How to Pitch: Please send all pitches for the reported pieces to reporting@thefastertimes.com

We don't need anything formal. Just a very quick description of what information you want to uncover and how you think you might track it down. We'll respond to every pitch within a few days to let you know if we can include it in this program.

Thanks, and if you have any questions about the program, please feel free to send them my way.

Onwards and upwards,
-Sam

P.S. Don't forget to email Adam if you want to play softball. Vanity Fair game is on the 17th. If softball is not your game, please feel free to come and hang out. We need cheerleaders...