Sick of what you see and read in the news? Wish you could make the assignments, telling reporters how to spend their days - and what sorts of events and issues they should cover?

You're in luck: asap's reporting for duty.

Introducing a new feature called Assignment: You.

Here's how it works: You'll rack your brain for a great story idea - one you've never seen pursued by the mainstream media. Maybe it's a contentious but obscure political debate. Or a trend you've just started to notice in your daily life. Maybe you'd like to know more about an up-and-coming band, an Olympic athlete, a video game designer.

You could even come up with something local that you think would fascinate the rest of America. If we like it, we might send a reporter to your town to cover it.

Send your favorite idea to soundoffasap (at) ap.org, with Assignment: You in the subject line.

Then asap's editing staff will get to work, trawling through the ideas and choosing one to pursue. The story will be assigned to an asap reporter, who will write an article revealing the winning idea and then do some hard-nosed reporting to produce the story you've always wanted to see.

Best of all, if we choose your idea, you'll be involved in the whole process.

When we introduce the idea to the world, we'll also introduce you, and find out what exactly you're hoping to learn from our reporting. And when we put out the story, we'll come back to get your reaction to the results. Were you surprised, pleased, angry, eager to know more? We want to know.

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So come forward with your ideas. Some tips to help get you started:

1. BE ORIGINAL. If you suggest a story we've already seen, we're not going to use it. If you're not sure, dive deep into the Web and see if you can find reporting that's similar to what you have in mind.

2. BE SPECIFIC. Try to focus your idea as much as possible, zeroing in on a question you'd like answered or a corner of a broader issue you'd like explored. If you suggest a story on hip-hop DJs or the debate over Iraq, we'll have to pass; those are book topics, not story ideas. But if there's an innovative new DJ you want to learn more about, or a new direction for Iraq that hasn't gotten much attention, we're all ears.

3. BE CREATIVE. Open your mind, and have fun as you come up with ideas.

4. BE TIMELY. If there's an event you're hoping we'll cover, make sure it's not too soon - we'd hate to choose your idea and discover we've missed the boat. So if you come up with an idea and the event is tomorrow, try to think of something else.

5. THINK VISUAL (AND AURAL). Have an idea that relies on sights and sounds? Be sure to include that; we at asap are pretty handy with still cameras, video cameras and audio recorders.

6. NO PR, PLEASE. If you're in the publicity business and you're hoping to get us to cover your client, don't bother. We know who you are.

So start brainstorming, and get ready to order us around. If we like your idea, we'll do your bidding.