Search For Common Ground
Media Consultant needed to co-produce Radio Jingles and Promos to Promote Peace and Unity in Plateau State
Search for Common Ground
Jos
Position Summary
Search for Common Ground seeks a professional and highly motivated Media Consultant who will produce 60 radio jingles and promos that will promote peace and unity, inspiring messages, and content, showcasing diverse voices, and raising awareness on the root causes of conflict to dispel the notion that conflict drivers are linked to identity and religion. Developing the jingle and promo ideas has been initiated by a group of script writing professionals, while the consultant will work with a selected media outlet and fellows to further develop the scripts and provide technical expertise through a professional lens to produce high-quality radio jingles and promos.
Search will air the radio jingles and promos on local radio stations to a range of audiences. The radio jingles and promos will be translated into the indigenous local languages, including English and pidgin and Hausa, which reflects the inherent culture and values of the target audience. This should ensure that the messages and themes are more relatable and accessible to a wide range of people.
Project Summary
BACKGROUND
Across the Middle Belt region of Nigeria, peace and security challenges are characterized by deadly conflict between farmers and herders, increasingly sophisticated banditry, and cycles of attacks and reprisals. In recent years, conflicts between farmers and herders have escalated exponentially, these conflicts hold the significant risk of escalation as communities’ fray along ethno-religious lines and inter-communal and interreligious cohesion continues to breakdown.In many communities across the Middle Belt, farmers and herders are divided not only by livelihood, but also by religion, language, and ethnicity, and conflicts occur against a legacy of ethno-religious violence and impunity.
Structurally, conflict is rooted in large-scale economic, environmental, and demographic challenges that stretch beyond individual communities. Population growth and migration have put pressure on the previously symbiotic relationships between sedentary farming and herding communities. Plateau State has been one of the most volatile states within the region, with a history of communal violence, a state of emergency declared in the state in recent history, and the continued existence of live fault lines that leave the state vulnerable to internal crisis between community groups. As such, the rise in farmer-herder conflict across the region is further compounded within Plateau as a result of the conflict fault lines that already exist within the state.
Within this context, media coverage often sensationalizes violence with insufficient analysis or explanation, reinforcing divisive narratives. Sensational news coverage both hampers effective policymaking and escalates tensions between conflicting groups, fueling deadly reprisal attacks. The rise of social media and the prevalence of fake news on these platforms have also contributed to the escalation of violence as false claims and violent images pit groups against each other.
PROGRAM STRATEGY AND DESIGN
Search for Common Ground (Search) leverages 15 years of programming across Nigeria, addressing some of the country’s most complex conflicts and crises. This project design builds on and reflects deep learning and analysis from our work, including from Search’s programming in the Middle Belt region, such as our ongoing Dutch-funded project, “Transforming the Farmer-Herder Conflicts and Promoting Freedom of Religion and Belief in Nigeria’s Middle Belt,” as well as our recent USAID-funded project, “Building Bridges Between Herders and Farmers in Plateau, Nasarawa, and Kaduna States.”
Search is one of the few organizations with ongoing interventions addressing conflicts in the Middle Belt, affording us key partners, expertise, lessons learned, and existing platforms to build on. Moreover, media programming remains a core pillar of our interventions: our in-house media team produces innovative radio programming and social media content to raise awareness and promote peace and our team engages local media outlets to build a robust, responsible, and professional media sector that plays a strong role in peacebuilding. This project will build on Search’s ongoing and past work in Plateau training journalists and producing radio programming in order to amplify impact and sustain results.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The overall goal of the project is to strengthen the media sector’s capacity to advance accurate reporting on and peace messaging related to conflicts across Plateau state. This goal is supported by the following specific objectives and corresponding expected results (ERs):
Project Objective: To amplify peaceful narratives and access to reliable, credible, and conflict-sensitive information across Plateau State.
ER 1.1 Traditional and new media stakeholders have increased capacity to promote peace and disseminate reliable, credible, and conflict-sensitive information.
ER 1.2 Citizens have increased access to positive messaging and content that dispels rumors and hate speech, strengthens understanding of conflict drivers, and fosters intergroup engagement for peace.
Search, plans to work with citizens to increase access to positive messaging that dispels rumors and hate speech, strengthens understanding of conflict drivers, and fosters intergroup engagement for peace. To this end, Search will conduct several Media-for-Peace initiatives to support this result. Search will leverage on the skills and resources of media stakeholders and experts in Plateau State to create innovative and inspiring content that has the potential to reach larger audiences.
Scope of Work for Consultant
Should co-create both a standard and promo jingle, which will be a mixture of voice and music and promo supporting the peace initiatives of the fellows.
Should work with the pre-identified media outlet and fellows to write a script including production notes for voice artist and audio producer, with consideration to the message they want to convey. Also, proving guidance on how the client will get that message across. The length of the jingles should be 60 seconds, the promos may be longer but 90 seconds should be the limit. The consultants will also be required to review the script, ensuring that messages are clearly conveyed.
The consultants will be the driving force on the elements required: music and sound; types of voices and making sure all the elements and others not listed but required, are available prior to the recording session.
Provide guidance and direction during the recording of the jingles and promos. The consultants should make sure all the parties are satisfied with the product produced and understand the message being conveyed.
The consultants should be prepared to record several versions of the script, even if the client is satisfied with the first run through, so as to enable them make more informed decisions.
The consultants will also support in all aspects of the production of the jingles and promos.The consultants will review and provide feedback on the final creation, before it goes on air. This is to make sure that the product puts across the message required in a clear and non-offensive way.The consultant should be prepared to cost-share on all the necessary production, and post-production equipment. No equipment or software (i.e. computers, editing software, etc.) will be purchased under this consultancy.
The consultants will work with a media outlet and fellows engaged by Search to facilitate all aspects of this contract as necessary. All costs associated with the production will be cost-shared between Search and the consultants, and should be stated as such and incorporated in the final proposal budget.
The consultant will establish operations rapidly and efficiently in consultation with Search, to accomplish formative scripts and other preparatory work. The consultants are expected to hold early and intensive meetings with Search, the media outlets and fellows. The consultants will provide illustrative examples of how it would be structured including high-level storyboards and scripts during the pre-production phase. Final production content decisions will be discussed between the consultants, media outlet, fellows and Search before production begins.
The jingles and promos should use a variety of professional and artistic production approaches, including multiple uses of sound to convey ideas to the audience, dialogue, sound effects, and voice overs to inspire empathy from viewers.
The jingles and promos should mirror the communities’ culture, norms and values
The jingles and promos should include versatile professional high quality transitions and appropriate supporting background music originally produced by the consultant.
Timeframe/Schedule
This consultancy is expected to commence in May, Editing and Final Production completed 10 days from signing the contract.This entire consultancy period will be based in Jos, Plateau State.
Development: The consultants will work closely with Search to learn about the M4P program in Plateau State and understand project objectives activities. With this background, the consultants will develop the radio jingles and promos within the generated jingle pitch ideas, in dialogue with Search. The work during this phase may be conducted remotely from the proposed start of the contract in March.
Pre-production: The consultants will work closely with Search to agree on production and finalize dates. During this period, the consultants, in collaboration with Search, will further develop ideas, storyboards, and scripts. Pre-production work to be conducted remotely with possible face-to-face meetings, if required.
Production: The consultants will record the raw elements for the jingles during this period.
Post-production: The consultants will work closely with Search during the editing phase to finalize the radio jingles. The work during this phase may be conducted remotely.
Distribution: The consultants will deliver to Search one or more external hard drives with the final production. In addition, Search may request the consultants to upload certain recordings to an internet website. The consultants are not responsible for further distribution of the radio jingles.
Required Qualifications and Experiences
Previous experience in developing and producing radio jingles
Experience engaging and working with audiences from diverse ethnic and religious background;
Demonstrated experience working on conflict issues and fragile environments;
Excellent knowledge of the Middle Belt conflict dynamics
Relevant experience supporting and engaging the media, NGO or INGOFamiliarity with location (i.e. Plateau) and knowledge of the local languages in the target states will be an added advantage (in this case Hausa).
Applications
Interested applicants are invited to send an application to our Career portal and their application MUST include the following:
A technical proposal, no more than four pages, describing how the radio jingles production objectives will be met within the stated timetable. Also a narrative “pitch” describing the basic jingle concepts and illustrative examples of how the jingles would be structured.
Technical qualifications of the team members including CVs, for all proposed personnel along with select internet links or digital copies of relevant short work developed by team members.
Budget/financial proposal including a description of costs for personnel, per diems, travel,
logistics, any local production company support, and all cost-share production costs (development, pre-production, production, and post-production). Include an overall cost for the contract. Final content decisions will be discussed between the consultant and Search before production begins.
Creative portfolios, including internet links or digital copies of relevant productions developed by the consultant.
Deadline for Submission: This application will close on Friday, 15th May, 2020.
Evaluation:
Search will evaluate applications based on the following criteria:
Understanding of the proposed project narrated in the technical requirements per the SOW.
Review of the consultant’s portfolio and technical capabilities including creativity, applying emotion, and content that informs, inspires, and motivates audiences.
Experience and demonstrated ability to operate in difficult conditions within a developing country.
As job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, the position holder may be required to undertake other duties that are broadly in line with the above key responsibilities.
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Only applicants invited for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls please. Please see our website www.sfcg.org for full details of our work.
All Search Employees must adhere to the values: Shared Humanity – Empathy – Impartiality – Inclusivity – Courage – Hope – Humility – Audacity. In accordance with these values, Search enforces compliance with the Code of Conduct and related policies on Anti Workplace Harassment, Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Conflict of Interest and Anti-fraud.
Search for Common Ground does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations.
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