The News From The WWW - 3/02/09 - Epsoide 48 - Volunteer Aqui!

[Austin G]

Episode 47 is now on-line: www.TheNewsFromTheWWW.org

Thanks to everyone who volunteered last week!!! For the second week in a row we had EXTRA material that I couldn't fit into this week's show so I will save it for next week! Thanks everyone for submitting longer pieces and double thanks to those of you who recorded TWO articles!!! Way to go guys!


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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 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 3/8/09.

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

[John Zadikian]

Here's my two-fer for this week

Doctors' house calls are making a comeback
TRT - 5:43
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29407434/

Coupons are gaining in popularity, but not the Sunday newspaper kind
TRT- 6:08
Finding Coupons Online Has Increased to Stretch Grocery Budgets - WSJ.com

[Diane Havens]

Had to do this one, now didn't I?

Safe Havens
RT 9:33

Careers: Ten Companies That Won't Cut Jobs | Newsweek Business | Newsweek.com

[Lori Furth]

I'm finally better from a series of sinus problems, and ready to voice:

BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Can people unlearn their naked shame?

TRT 6:56

[Roger Baker]

Back this week...

Here's mine;

Why Gold Prices Will Keep Rising
Why gold prices will keep rising - MSN Money - New Investor Center

Run Time: 8:00

and a short amusing one:

$#$%## LA County Tries For Cuss-Free Week
Breaking News, Weather, Business, Health, Entertainment, Sports, Politics, Travel, Science, Technology, Local, US & World News- msnbc.com

Run Time: 3:24

Thanks!

[Jacoby]

Hi Austin, I'm not playing for obvious reasons, but I couldn't help noticing this line:

Originally Posted by Austin G

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

Geeky as I am, at first I was like "wow.... 96 khz sampling rate!?" Until i realized it said 96 kbps, which is bitrate, not sampling rate.
I may very well be the only one to notice, though, or even care... but I just don't want anyone else to be confused by this, so if it's not too much trouble for you, maybe you could change it, just to be sure

This have been a geek announcement. Now back to your regular schedule...

[Colin Campbell]

I didn't notice and have been sending 128k BIT RATE, mono, 44.1 and everything has been fine. Guess I'll drop it to 96k from now on.

[Jay Thompson]

I'll take this one

Good for those of us who do commercials!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/03/he...r=1&ref=health

TRT 8:53

[JohnWeeks]

I didn't notice and have been sending 128k BIT RATE, mono, 44.1

Hi Colin,
This was originally suggested to keep everybody at the same rate. I'm not sure what the final bit rate is now, but the first few shows were at 96k and I suggested that everyone use that to avoid further bit rate conversions and make it easier for Austin to put the show together (not having to do any conversions).
Also I suggested that everyone record at the same level (-6) to even the levels out and save Austin some time getting the levels consistent.
Hi Jacob,
How about joining in with your golden tones?

I'll take this one.....

Squeezing in a conference call between classes

In tough times, students start businesses - Inc.com- msnbc.com

TRT 5:50

[Colin Campbell]

Paul Harvey, an appraisal of his career...

TRT: 4:18

Paul Harvey: An appraisal of his career by the Tribune's Phil Rosenthal -- chicagotribune.com