The News From The WWW - 11/03/08 - Epsoide 34 - Volunter Today!

[Austin G]

Episode 33 is now on-line: www.TheNewsFromTheWWW.org

Thanks to everyone who volunteered last week!

If you have a chance, please go edit last week's post and delete your MP3 file attachment in order to conserve precious server space on Voice-Overs.com

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:

1. Select a news article that you would like to read (see guidelines below).

2. Create a post in this thread with the TITLE / HEADLINE of the article and a LINK / URL to the article to claim or get "dibs" on that story so no one else will take it or read a very similar article for this episode.

3. Record the title, intro script, article, and close script and save it as a MONO MP3 -6db with a sampling rate of 96 kbps 44100.

4. Edit your first post and add the recorded article / MP3 as an attachment and add the total run time / TRT in your post so we can track the length of the program (we need one hour worth of material).

5. DEADLINE: Please submit your recorded article by Sunday at Noon 11/9/08.

Guidelines for choosing a news article:

As a VO actor you have to read other peoples scripts all day - here you get a chance to read what you want / what interests you! 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 and regular radio. Please 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. Choose articles that you would feel comfortable reading to someone you just met etc. Articles that are interesting, funny, clever, etc.

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. 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!

Script:

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
DRUDGE REPORT 2008®

Yahoo News Most Popular Stories
Most popular news stories as ranked by readers of Yahoo! News

Newhouse News Service
Newhouse News Service - Home

AP Wire Top Stories from the New York Times
Associated Press News - Top Stories from the AP - The New York Times

The Consumerist (great blog on consumer topics - read the article their blog posts are talk about)
The Consumerist: Shoppers Bite Back

[Roger Baker]

Here's mine for the week

All right class... listen up. Bill Nye the Science guy explains Daylight Saving Time... and why. Why?...

Sunny Delight. The Pros and Cons of Daylight Saving Time
Bill Nye: Daylight Saving Time - MSN Encarta

Run Time: 8:01

Thanks!

[Diane Havens]

As someone who spent many years in education, this one hit home:


GIVING GLOBALLY
Education: It’s Not Just About the Boys. Get Girls Into School.

Run time 6:30

Alter: The Importance of Educating Girls | Newsweek Giving Globally | Newsweek.com

[John Zadikian]

The Who asked us "Who Are You?"...the Fixx asked us "Are We Ourselves?"...but in Israel, the question is more serious...and who you are today might not be who you are tomorrow.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27489870/

TRT - 6:22

VOTE TUESDAY!

[JohnWeeks]

I'll do this one....

Can Retailers Get Consumers into the Christmas Spirit?


Can Retailers Get Consumers into the Christmas Spirit? - TIME

TRT 6:10

[Cameron Thomas]

It's another short one but interesting...

"Frozen Mice Cloned...are Wooly Mammoths Next?"
Frozen mice cloned - are woolly mammoths next? | Science | Reuters

[Cameron Thomas]

Frozen Mice Cloned
Runtime only 3:26

[Claired]

I've got a cold. So this week-end I'm staying in bed with my hotwater bottle and hot tea. I won't record anything it's better. sorry But hopefully I'll be back in good form next week!

[Colin Campbell]

This is a long story, but a GREAT story. I know Austin that you are not getting the amount of volunteers you used to get. You may or may not be able to use this due to it's length but it is a great story. I had to hold back tears and "choking up" as I read it...

"Football Star Faces His Mother's Killer."

Link to story:

Football star faces his mother’s killer - Biography and memoirs - Today.msnbc.com

Link to audio:

Running time: 20:06.

Maybe you can use this if contributions are light.

At any rate this is a really great story.