© 2024 KASU
Your Connection to Music, News, Arts and Views for 65 Years
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

KASU News - Story Ideas & Interview Requests

Do you have a story idea? Do you want to come on to KASU's Morning Edition to talk about your event? One of KASU News' guiding principles for us to be a trustworthy source of news and information. In order for us to do this, we must rely on tips from you and the community at large.

Help us fulfill the mission! Please use the form below to send us your story idea. You can also indicate whether your story involves an event coming up that you or your organization would like to talk about on the air.

If you want more information, try these links also:
Tip Submission Guide | Request an Interview | Community Calendar Submissions | Having trouble seeing the form? Click here.

How to Pitch Your Story to KASU News

Do you have an idea for a story? We welcome suggestions from you and the community at large for story ideas. It's important that we have the community be involved with the stories you hear from KASU News. As we realize how important it is to have you reflected in our coverage, here are a couple of tips to help you ensure that you can cut through the noise of other people submitting a story idea to eventually get your story heard on the air and online!

  • Please, respect the process! If you have a story idea, please use the form above, email pitch@kasu.org, or call (870) 680-8300. Regardless of the method, make sure your pitch addresses ALL of the following elements: 
    • A focus sentence structured "who is doing what, how and/or why".
    • Why should our audience/community care about the story.
    • If you're willing to be a source on the record to be contacted.
  • While we'll accept phoned in story ideas, we still would like all of the above elements addressed. When leaving a voicemail, please keep it brief and concise (no more than 3 minutes). 
  • NO ANONYMOUSPITCHES,TIPS ORPSEUDONYMS!!! If you're brave enough to give us the tip; be brave enough to give us your name and contact information. We will not give this information out to anyone. You may request anonymity if you are being used as a source in the story. 
  • Please, no stories that are based off of personal opinions, speculation, or conspiracies.  Cold-hard facts and proof are very important to the process and the institution of ethical journalism, even more so at the local level.  Our team can be held criminally liable for reporting on false stories AND it can damage our journalistic integrity and reputation, while also harming the victim of the stories.  If you have a story, please be ready to present proof. 
  • No commentary or editorials, PERIOD.  We are working on creating a public forum that will allow you to express your opinions on any story or topic freely.  However, there is no place for commentary or bias in a news story pitch. 
  • If you are requesting an event interview request, make sure that your submission and your event follows our community calendar submission guidelines. Also, don't submit "suggested questions."  We'll purposefully not ask them. 
  • As of now, we can only accept stories that impact the local community.  Mainly, this includes (but explicitly limited to) Craighead County, Poinsett County, Greene County, Mississippi County, Lawrence County, and Jackson County.  Also, as of now, we are not equipped to handle stories that are investigative in nature.  It is service we are working towards offering and hope to offer it in the near future.  In the meantime, don’t let it stop you from pitching your story!  If we determine that it is viable, then we may pitch it to another one of our content partners who have the capability to do your story justice.
  • Do not offer money or any kind of compensation for your story.  It's unethical for us to accept money or bribes for taking up a story.
  • Because we are a smaller staff with few resources, we have to be very selective about the stories we pursue. Please understand that our News Director and other managerial staff reserves the right to not pursue a story for any reason and are not obligated to give a reason for why or why not.  

Here's an example of a bad story pitch:

“Hi!  I have a story idea for you.  I think that Councilman Square is misappropriating funds.  I’ve been following his Facebook and he says that he recently bought a new car.  Where did he get that money from?!  I don’t think that’s right and he needs to be stopped!  I hope this story will get him to stop misusing our hard-earned tax payer dollars.”

  • Why it’s bad: First, there is no focus sentence. Also, to say “I think” is already a bad sign because this person is about to launch into speculation. Speaking of, their proof is based on a Facebook post. Social Media can sometimes be a very unreliable source for information. Finally, this pitch is anonymous. We don’t know who made this pitch.

How to fix it:

“Hello!  My name is Molly Shannon and I have a story idea.  Councilman Square is embezzling tax-payer money by falsifying records to use in his campaign reelection bid.  Your listeners should care because it’s tax-payer money and it is against the law for public servants to misappropriate funds.  I am the councilman’s secretary, so I’d be willing to comment, but please keep my name out of the story.  Also, a friend of mine has been taking pictures and I would be willing to show you the evidence.  I can be reached at 555-555-5555.  Thank you! Bye!”

  • Why this works: Molly gives her name and gets straight to the point. After giving her name and the purpose for her call, she gives the focus sentence which is pretty concise. Throughout her voicemail, she explains why the audience should care, using state law. She also explains that she would like to go on record about the story, but wishes to remain anonymous. Despite that, she left us her contact information. She also says that she has actual photo proof on her via her friend. At least we will be able to corroborate the proof internally.  NOTE:  While this is a better pitch idea, we would turn it down right now because it is investigative in nature.  But, still pitch it anyway.  We have partnerships with other local media and journalism organizations that have the capability and we don’t mind sharing on your behalf.

We’ll take good or bad. Positive or negative. Regardless of what it is, please use the example above to send us your pitch.