To start, I would like to sincerely thank both Weekend America and AIR for teaming up to offer such a great opportunity. For someone like me who hasn't had the experience of being a regular staff producer or reporter, going out to L.A. to work with the American Public Media folks was a true thrill and a learning experience.

I have to admit when news about Weekend America (née Public Radio Weekend) first floated over my transom, I was a little sceptical. It sounded like the kind of happy, sit-back-and-relax weekend fluff that just doesn't appeal to my sensibilities. Thankfully, quite early on I had the fortunate experience to pitch them a story and then edit it together with Krissy Clark (this was last winter). Filing that first story really helped pull the wool back. I mean, before you've actually worked with a program's editors, you are just making an educated guess at important questions like style, tone, and how to frame content.

So what is Weekend America really about? After having filed several features for them and also working with their team for a month, I still have trouble distilling it down to one catch phrase. However, something that has really helped me focus when I think of a Weekend America story idea is the concept of the "ripple effect." Weekend America is a "ripple effect" show. Rather then focusing squarely on news and events, they try to scan the periphery for stories that might be linked to, but not directly focused on the events of the day. Another aspect of Weekend America content is best described by an adjective that they came up with themselves -- "soultimacy." Here is an example of both "ripple effect" and "soultimacy":

While I was in L.A. the Kelo vs. New London eminent domain ruling was big news. Legislatures across the country were rushing to push through amendments to protect the rights of private property owners from phoney blight declarations. So, they asked me to scout out a community that was dealing with eminent domain to try to find people on both sides of the issue to possibly go on air and talk about their communities. Well, the first thing I thought was try to find the two biggest firebrands. But that was the angle everyone was taking, so they encouraged me to look around the edge a little (ripple), try to find people who maybe aren't as polarizing. When I approached the story from that angle, I was able to find people who could understand the point of view of both sides. The debate took on a new level of meaning, and the end result was much more intimate and revealing (soultimate) then just two people trying to win support for their cause.

Other features of the show that I think are particularly cool for indies are the different series that they routinely toss out as pitch fodder. These series are not meant to be quick turn-around. They take as much time as necessary and wait until all the stories are in before airing the series. In my case, during one of their daily topics meetings, someone had mentioned a series on "redemption" that hadn't received that many pitches. So I started thinking about it, and before I left I contributed a feature about a white collar ex-con who goes around the country giving talks to CPA groups about the evils of white collar crime.

Lastly, I'd just like to point out something that regular listeners of the program will already have caught on to. Weekend America has two hosts, and they like to write the hosts into the show as much as possible. So they often tie feature pieces together with a host-driven follow up interview. In my case when I went out to L.A., I brought some tape I had gathered of an Italian- America green-market farmer in my town named Rocco Miggliorelli. Rocco is a real character and kind of the original deal when it comes to farmers markets in New York City. So, they had me produce a feature and then find an expert who could talk with Barbara Bogaev about other new trends in the "eat local" movement.

I mean, I'm just one guy who's filed some stories and also has drank the same Kool-Aid for a month, but in a nutshell here is my advice vis-à-vis Weekend America: Scan your communities for ripple-effect stories and don't necessarily think of your pitches as tiny little packages. Think about follow-up ideas, or perhaps a series idea. Just start pitching. They are all real nice people and could probably give you a few tips that I have overlooked.

Adam Allington is currently working for Radio Deutsche Welle in Bonn, Germany on an International Journalism Fellowship. Before joining Deutsche Welle he produced features for a grab bag of public radio programs from his base in upstate New York.