TV_Assistant_Producer_Writer_SOW-Final.docx

STATEMENT OF WORK

TV - Assistant Producer Writer Services

PURPOSE AND SCOPE

The Voice of America’s Central News Division has a requirement for a talent vendor (hereinafter referred to as “Contractor”) to provide TV Assistant Producer/Writer services described below. The Contractor shall be responsible for meeting all obligations under the term of this contract. All work shall be performed in accordance with “The VOA Journalistic Code.” The contractor must request pre-approval before engaging in outside speaking and writing that might give rise to an actual or perceived violation of the Code.

BACKGROUND

The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) is an Executive Branch Federal Government agency that oversees U.S. broadcasting of news and information to audiences around the world. BBG includes the Voice of America (VOA) and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (VOA), as well as grantee entities Radio Free Asia (RFA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and the Middle East Broadcasting Network (MBN). Together, VOA and VOA distribute programming in English and 42 other languages to an estimated weekly audience of 175 million people.

The News Center is a multimedia news room providing 24/7 content and editorial guidance and direction for all VOA language services and English platforms. This material includes TV reports, standups, web and digital vids, radio and web reports, photo content and animated explainers.

TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

(1) General Responsibilities of Contractor. The Contractor serves as TV Assistant Producer/Writer for a VOA News Center TV program/newscast. Contractor ensures that all material engages audiences in support of the VOA Charter and in accordance with VOA's journalistic code.

(2) Required expertise.

· 5+ years of TV production experience

· Proven experience with all aspects of news program production

· Experience working in a multicultural work environment

· Effective communication skills

· Experience giving direct, constructive feedback

· Experience writing and editing TV scripts

· Experience and knowledge of proper control room protocol and dealing with a technical crew

· Experience working on national and international news

DELIVERABLES, INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE, AND PAYMENT TERMS

DELIVERABLES

The Contractor shall provide deliverables that are responsive to the statement of work / specifications described in the task order and that conform to the Deliverables Inspection and Acceptance Criteria section of this task order. The Contractor shall submit all deliverables to the COR identified herein for dissemination to BBG subject matter expert(s) for review and comments. Final inspection and acceptance of all work performed and deliverables will be performed by the COR.

The following deliverables are essential to the successful completion of this contract:

· Contractor provides support with the creation of a rundown, times the segments and line produces the show when needed. Ensures that all the production elements, packages, graphics and chyrons in the show are accurate and shown in order.

· Communicates the report/segments with the on-air talent.

· Contractor views all visual materials including openings, closings, bumpers, roll-in packages, graphics and chyron information to confirm accuracy and on-air worthiness.

· On occasions, contractor should also field produce shoots and turn around to edit news and feature packages as assigned

· Contractor will conceive, plan, research and write highly targeted, in –depth original news stories in different formats: TV packages, intros, VO’s, VOSOT’s- for TV program. Subjects covered may include international affairs, politics, economics, cultural affairs, scientific developments, and health issues, on a national and international level.

· Contractor will conduct in-depth interviews, and will conduct extensive research prior to the interview to ensure they are as informative as possible

· Contractor ensures the accuracy of all aspects of story development

· Contractor shall actively engage with the team of anchors and reporters to coordinate coverage, develop engaging content and set the direction for a competitive product.

· Contractor will implement best practices acquired from the CNE central experts

· Contractor possesses outstanding editorial judgment and creative abilities

· Contractor provides ambitious/unbiased reporting/writing and utilizes appropriate reporting tools to include analysis of documents and developments, which are unbiased, accurate, balanced, and comprehensive.

· Contractor handles breaking news in a calm manner

· Contractor incorporates effective social media strategies into the program.

DELIVERABLE SCHEDULE

The Contractor shall submit the required deliverables to the COR in accordance with the following schedule:

Conceives, plans, writes and researches high value original reports an stories for various formats

As assigned

F.4 PLACE OF DELIVERY FOR DELIVERABLES

Item(s) to be delivered under this contract shall be delivered electronically to:

News Center 330 Independence Ave SW

The COR will specify the place of delivery for items to be delivered under this contract that have not been listed in the preceding table upon their assignment.

DELIVERABLE INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA

Inspection The COR will review, for completeness and quality, all deliverables submitted by the Contractor, and may return them to the Contractor for correction. The Contracting Officer may delegate responsibility for review to other employees with appropriate expertise. Absence of any comments by the COR will not relieve the Contractor of the responsibility for complying with the requirements of the contract. Final approval and acceptance of deliverables will be provided to the Contractor in writing by the COR. The COR will have up to 2 hours to inspect deliverables and return them to the Contractor for correction.

Acceptance Criteria All contractor-produced documents and documentation (‘deliverables) shall meet the following general acceptance criteria. Final inspection and acceptance of all work performed, reports and other deliverables, will be performed at the place of delivery by the BBG’s COR.

· Clarity Deliverables and technical content shall be relevant and unambiguous, and shall adhere to accepted elements of style. Presentations, if any, shall be easy to understand and be relevant to the supporting narrative.

· Adherence to Requirements All deliverables must satisfy the requirements of this statement of work and must contribute to the overall success of the tasks.

· Format Deliverables shall be submitted in the format specified on the Deliverables section of the contract (if applicable), or as specified by the COR. If format is not specified in the Deliverables section of the contract, the Contractor shall submit all work products in formats compatible with Microsoft.

· Completeness Deliverables shall be comprehensive and entirely developed (i.e. have all required parts and elements).

· Timeliness –Deliverables shall be available at the time required and generated on or before specified and mutually agreed to due dates or in accordance with a later mutually agreed to scheduled date.

· Significant Deficiencies - Deliverables shall be free of significant deficiencies. Significant deficiencies are findings by reviewing officials of serious omissions, inaccuracies, noncompliance with contract requirements and standards.

PAYMENT

The Contractor shall submit invoices only for work that has been submitted to the COR, and inspected and accepted by the COR.

SECURITY

All staff must be able to obtain and maintain a public trust background investigation. (If applicable).

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The contract will commence on or about August 20, 2018 until August 19, 2019, with an option to continue services for one additional option year.

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

The work on this contract shall be conducted at the Broadcasting Board of Governors, 330 Independence Ave, SW, Washington, DC 20237 or contractor’s worksite.

CONTRACT TYPE/VEHICLE

Firm Fixed Price to be awarded under a commercial contract.

SUBMISSION OF INVOICES

1952.232-91 Electronic Invoicing and Payment Requirements - Invoice Payment Platform (IPP) (April 2016) Payment requests for all new awards must be submitted electronically through the U. S. Department of the Treasury's Invoice Payment Platform System (IPP). "Payment request" means any request for contract financing payment or invoice payment by the Contractor. To constitute a proper invoice, the payment request must comply with the requirements identified in FAR 32.905(b), "Payment documentation and process" and the applicable Prompt Payment clause included in this contract. The IPP website address is: https://www.ipp.gov.