6/23/08 Episode 17: The News From The WWW - Volunteer Today!

Austin Grammer

Episode 16 is now on-line: www.TheNewsFromTheWWW.org

Thanks again to everyone who volunteered for last week's show!

I'm STILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL working on the syndication service - I can't get logged into their FTP site to share / upload the show. Hopefully I can get that straighted out this week.

As always, if you have never volunteered before, we would love to have you aboard! PM me with any questions.

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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 6/29/08.

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

Clinton Nobles · Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008, 20:43 (GMT) Post subject:

I tried something new! I am actually excited about it. I can't wait to hear your thoughts. The Latte read I tried more old-style news reel and I think it worked okay. Both of these are a bit long, so I can totally understand him only choosing one if he does decide to use mine.

And here they are Very Happy

In weak economy, forgoing $4 lattes for home brews
(AP)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080619/ap_on_bi_ge/no_more_lattes
Time: 7:26pm

Towns question fluoride use
Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-fluoride-jones_23jun23,0,6241215.story
Time: 8:06

Diane Havens · Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008, 01:30 (GMT) Post subject:

Still into heart health, I'll read:

LACK OF SUNSHINE VITAMIN MAY CLOUD SURVIVAL ODDS

Rn time 5:30

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080623/ap_on_he_me/med_vitamin_d_deaths

John Zadikian

I'm going to pass this week, friends, as I am a bit under the weather.

John Zadikian

Clinton Nobles

John Zadikian · Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008, 02:27 (GMT) Post subject: Thanks

Thanks, Clinton. The upside is my voice is lowered an octave, which I'm all for. The downside is that I feel nearly as bad as I look, which explains why I don't do television Smile

John

Roger Baker · Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008, 02:42 (GMT) Post subject:

I will be back this week and should have mine uploaded later in the week.
Thanks!

Here is mine: Quit Your Job; Save The World

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/StockInvestingTrading/QuitYourJobSaveTheWorld.aspx

Run Time: 7:20

Thanks

Since John is out of the loop this week (hope you feel better John), here's another in case you need it: How To Retire On $12,000 A Year

Run Time: 5:30

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/RetirementandWills/CreateaPlan/RetireOnTwelveThousandDollarsAYear.aspx

John Weeks · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008, 04:20 (GMT) Post subject:

Hi Austin,
I've been on vacation and will be taking care of this story this week:
Food And Fuel Are Up, But Other Prices Dropping
http://www.newhouse.com/food-and-fuel-are-up,-but-other-prices-dropping.html
Runtime 7:05

Colin Campbell · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008, 05:26 (GMT) Post subject:

When I click to download the June 23rd show, I get the June 16th show.

Colin Campbell · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008, 06:26 (GMT) Post subject:

Just in case you'd like a change-up... I produced an Intro-Outro with the same copy that you use currently....

Clinton Nobles · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008, 15:26 (GMT) Post subject:

okay this could be fun, I think I'll give the intro-outro a shot Very Happy

Not going to be close to yours of course but fun is fun.

Colin Campbell · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008, 16:56 (GMT) Post subject:

As Erik once said about me... "he can't help himself." I LOOK for things to voice/produce. It's a bit sad really.

Clinton Nobles · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008, 19:21 (GMT) Post subject:

I might have found a new hobby myself lol. Keeps me busy, gives me practice, and I get to make my GF listen to them all LOL

Colin Campbell · Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008, 00:00 (GMT) Post subject:

Do you think it would be OK if I read an article I wrote myself? It is published at AssociatedContent.com. (I made a whole $8 for it.)

It's about growing up with albinism and legal blindness. I thought it might be apropriate for visually impaired listeners.

Clinton Nobles · Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008, 00:47 (GMT) Post subject:

I think it would be good. I don't see why not. I want to hear it any so I might be bias lol