5/19/08 Episode 13: The News From The WWW - Volunteer Here!

Austin Grammer

Episode 12 is now available for download! Go to http://www.TheNewsFromTheWWW.org to listen!

Updates:

1. Website - http://www.thenewsfromthewww.org/voices.html Send me your bio and pic and I will add you to the website for the show.

2. I'm STILL working on getting the show "syndicated" to more RIS stations. I hope this week's show will be the first that is available to the syndication service.

New Volunteers are welcome and encouraged to join! PM me if you have any questions or just dive right in a post your fav news article!

Instructions:

Select a news article that you would like to read. Create a post in this thread with the title of the article and a link to the article to claim or get "dibs" on that story so no one else will take it, then record the story in Mono MP3 -6db with a sampling rate of 96 kbps 44100, and then edit your first post and add the recorded article as an attachment and add the runtime in your post so we can track the length of the program (we need one hour worth of material). Please submit your recorded article by Sunday at Noon 5/25/08.

You can pick your own article / news story. Please keep in mind that the target audience is mostly older people with vision issues who already get a lot of the mainstream news from the RIS service through other volunteers reading local and regional newspapers in addition to listening to TV. So I would avoid political and breaking news as those are already covered and change from day to day. Pick articles that will have a week or more of shelf life. Also avoid celebrity gossip, stories of a sexual nature, murder, abuse, etc. Articles that you would feel comfortable reading to someone you just met etc. Articles that are interesting, funny, clever, etc. I have a list at the bottom of this post of some recommended articles for you to get an idea of what I am talking about. Please choose / read articles that are longer than 3 min when read (not including intros). A lot of short articles can be difficult to concentrate on / listen to. Often, you may come across an interesting story or news topic on one website but it is the abbreviated article. If you search the subject of the article on Google News Search, you might be able to find a longer / more in depth article on the subject from another news source. If you can't, please pick another longer article, or, find two similar short articles and read them both and introduce them as such "here are two articles about a popular subject on the web...." "And now another article with a similar but different story". Just use your best judgment. If everyone contributed an article with a average length of 5 minutes, we would only need 12 VO actors contributing on a weekly basis to fill the hour time slot. I'm happy to pick up the slack but would rather hear from more people. You may need to lower the bit rate of your MP3 file in order to keep the file size low enough to upload to the savvy board (less than 5MB)

Here is the script I would like each person to read before reading their article in order to have consistency from one article to the next:

"[ARTICLE TITLE (for show intro montage), PAUSE]

Hi, this is [MY NAME] from [CITY, STATE] and [YOUR DOT COM WEBSITE (if applicable)] with an article about __________(short but intriguing summary about the article you chose).

PAUSE From [SOURCE], [TITLE OF ARTICLE].

[READ ARTICLE]

PAUSE, "For The News From The World Wide Web, I'm [YOUR NAME].

Example:

"City Council Outlaws Skateboarding In Downtown: Youth Unhappy, (PAUSE) Hi, this is Homer Simpson from Springfield, Illinois and homersimpson.com with an article about how one small town is dealing with a skateboarding hooligans. PAUSE From the Springfield Gazette dot com, City Council Outlaws Skateboarding In Downtown: Youth Unhappy" {STORY} "For the News From The World Wide Web, I'm Homer Simpson
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Here are some good places to look for news articles:

The Drudge Report
http://www.drudgereport.com/

Yahoo News Most Popular Stories
http://news.yahoo.com/i/964

Newhouse News Service
http://www.newhouse.com/

AP Wire Top Stories from the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/aponline/index.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here are some articles I have come across in the last few of days that I would recommend if you are unsure what to read:

Some Detainees Are Drugged For Deportation
(Shocking Story! If they are doing to detainees, soon they will do it to legal prisoners! ACK!)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/specials/immigration/cwc_d4p3.html

L.A. prepares massive water-conservation plan
(Filtered Sewage in your tap water in LA!)
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lawater15-2008may15,0,1615373.story?track=rss

Indians bristle at U.S. criticism on food prices
(Great quotes about how the Indians view Bush)
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/13/business/food.php

Immigration Raid Jars a Small Town
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/17/AR2008051702474_pf.html

Austin Grammer · Posted: Mon May 19, 2008, 14:36 (GMT) Post subject:

EXAMPLE POST:

I'll take this article:

Asylum's Renaming Insults Advocates
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LUNATIC_ASYLUM?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US

EDIT:
MP3 attached
Runtime: 6:34

(I edited out the bulk of the story so you can quickly hear an example of the script)

Diane Havens · Posted: Mon May 19, 2008, 14:49 (GMT) Post subject:

Big fan of green tea here --- so I'll read this one:

Green tea may shield brain from sleep apnea effects
Run time 3:28
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080519/hl_nm/green_tea_shield_brain_sleep_apnea_effect_dc;_ylt=An3kBGRO_.oPz6CZwivLU.8DW7oF

John Zadikian · Posted: Mon May 19, 2008, 15:21 (GMT) Post subject: Whole lotta shakin'

Here's one about animals in China who may have given off warning signals about the impending killer earthquake.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24646523

TRT - 4:00

John Zadikian

Roger Baker · Posted: Mon May 19, 2008, 16:31 (GMT) Post subject:

I think I'll try the one about the immigration raid

Immigration Raid Jars a Small Town
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/17/AR2008051702474_pf.html

Scott Pollak · Posted: Mon May 19, 2008, 18:01 (GMT) Post subject:

My pick for this week:
"As Homes Foreclose in U.S., Squatters Move In"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080519/us_nm/usa_housing_squatters_dc;_ylt=ArjDLUiJ9WYkBumlQ0Jm4RcDW7oF

John Weeks · Posted: Mon May 19, 2008, 20:26 (GMT) Post subject:

I'll take a story on an auction of some of Bob Hope's favorite things...
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-Bob-Hope-Auction.html
Runtime: 5:08

Scott Paxton · Posted: Mon May 19, 2008, 20:40 (GMT) Post subject:

Since I am employed part time by the USPS, I will take this one

Corner Mailboxes Slowly Becoming Extinct

http://www.newhouse.com/corner-mailboxes-slowly-becoming-extinct-2.html

Time-02:35

Thanks,

Clinton Nobles · Posted: Tue May 20, 2008, 06:36 (GMT) Post subject:

I had four articles I had to select from this week. Guess that gives me option next time lol.

And the winner is . . .

Spy Cameras Sweep The City
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1050157_spy_cameras_sweep_the_city

Length: 3:23

Cameron Thomas · Posted: Tue May 20, 2008, 10:44 (GMT) Post subject:

In light of all the disasters lately...

"Disaster fatigue Leads To Drop In Giving"

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080519/D90OSC000.html

Scott Pollak · Posted: Tue May 20, 2008, 13:45 (GMT) Post subject:

And here we go:

"As Foreclosures rise, Squatters Move in"
Scott Pollak
TRT: 4:40

Cameron Thomas · Posted: Tue May 20, 2008, 21:45 (GMT) Post subject:

First time with a new recording program so hoping it's still ok.

"Disaster fatigue Leads To Drop In Giving"
AP
Runtime: 5:57
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080519/D90OSC000.html

Colin Campbell · Posted: Wed May 21, 2008, 02:25 (GMT) Post subject:

Sagging Economy Cutting Into Plastic Surgery Business.

http://www.newhouse.com/sagging-economy-cutting-into-plastic-surgery-business-2.html

Running time: 4:07

Jacob Keebler · Posted: Wed May 21, 2008, 06:41 (GMT) Post subject:

Hey Austin, I really want to get involved with this again, but my voices is just too tired to submit tonight. Keep up the great work
-J

Jacob Keebler · Posted: Thu May 22, 2008, 02:29 (GMT) Post subject:

Nopt sure if there is any room left this week but here's mine:

Older brain may be a wiser brain

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/health/research/20brai.html?em&ex=1211515200&en=6b45984e523a9f97&ei=5087%0A

TRT: 3:58