The News From The WWW - 3/09/09 - Epsoide 49 - Volunteer Today!

Austin G · 03-09-2009, 12:23 AM

Episode 48 is now on-line: www.TheNewsFromTheWWW.org

Thanks to everyone who volunteered last week!!! We had nearly a full hour of programming (about 2 min short)!! Great job guys! Double thanks to those of you who recorded TWO articles!!!

There was some discussion last week about the bit rate that I request in the instructions for your files. Originally I was distributing the show in 96kbps bit rate MP3 as I thought it was a nice compromise on quality / file space. However, the syndication service for the RIS stations asks their show producers to submit programs encoded at 48kbps in order to save sapce on thier server, so that is what I am distributing the final product at. I think if we all stay at 96k we will have a better quality going into the editing process (ie garbage in garbage out). The main issue for me is that everyone do the same sampling rate so I don't end up with chipmunks when it comes time to export the show down to MP3 in Audacity! Also, mono files are nice for me and save me time having to convert a stereo file down to mono.

I'm always open to ideas and suggestions about the show! This is not just mine, it's everyone's who volunteers! I just do the editing and coordination. I sold off all my VO gear at least 6 months ago when I determined that my rain barrel buisness was the better fit for me and my family.

--------------------------------

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.

--------------------------------------
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 bit rate of 96 kbps and sampling rate of 44100hz.

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 3/16/09.

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
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 · 03-09-2009, 10:40 AM

Hey, Austin...I'll spring forward with another pair for this week so you have something to fall back on

Women are becoming second-hand boutique owners...without leaving their bedrooms
TRT - 6:44

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123630143440747101.html

Getting the pink slip? Don't use blue language and hit the "send" button
TRT - 5:40

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29533907/

Roger Baker · 03-09-2009, 12:46 PM

Here's mine for this week:

NASA's 10 Greatest Science Missions
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/2955360/...pSpaceMissions

Run Time: 8:36

Thanks!!

Diane Havens · 03-09-2009, 05:51 PM

I'm a big Shakespeare buff, so I was psyched to see this one!
RT 5:56

Did a Bard contemporary brush up on Shakespeare?

ranalanricard · 03-11-2009, 06:59 AM

...and my offering for this week is;

Born in the USA? Judge Scalia says 4 votes needed for Obama's Presidential eligibility case. From World Net Daily, a story by Bob Unruh.

TRT 9:55

Scalia: You need 4 votes for Obama eligibility case

Colin Campbell · 03-14-2009, 02:15 PM

Love this story...

Colonel Sanders pulled from river after 24 years - Weird news- msnbc.com

TRT: 2:41

Colin Campbell · 03-15-2009, 08:31 AM

The Newhouse news service no longer exists.

You're looking a little short this week Austin, so here's another one...

TRT: 4:27

Ohio.com - Reporter's postcard arrives 47 years later

John Zadikian · 03-16-2009, 10:41 AM

Colin...I read that story in the Akron Beacon Journal. Very cool!

Colin Campbell · 03-16-2009, 06:52 PM

Yeah, John... I like that kind of stuff. I wish they'd find out where they found the postcard though. Can it be that tough?

03-09-2009, 12:23 AM	#1 (permalink)
Austin G I Love Bison! Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Central Illinois, USA Posts: 44	The News From The WWW - 3/09/09 - Epsoide 49 - Volunteer Today! Episode 48 is now on-line: www.TheNewsFromTheWWW.org Thanks to everyone who volunteered last week!!! We had nearly a full hour of programming (about 2 min short)!! Great job guys! Double thanks to those of you who recorded TWO articles!!! There was some discussion last week about the bit rate that I request in the instructions for your files. Originally I was distributing the show in 96kbps bit rate MP3 as I thought it was a nice compromise on quality / file space. However, the syndication service for the RIS stations asks their show producers to submit programs encoded at 48kbps in order to save sapce on thier server, so that is what I am distributing the final product at. I think if we all stay at 96k we will have a better quality going into the editing process (ie garbage in garbage out). The main issue for me is that everyone do the same sampling rate so I don't end up with chipmunks when it comes time to export the show down to MP3 in Audacity! Also, mono files are nice for me and save me time having to convert a stereo file down to mono. I'm always open to ideas and suggestions about the show! This is not just mine, it's everyone's who volunteers! I just do the editing and coordination. I sold off all my VO gear at least 6 months ago when I determined that my rain barrel buisness was the better fit for me and my family. -------------------------------- 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. -------------------------------------- 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 bit rate of 96 kbps and sampling rate of 44100hz. 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 3/16/09. 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 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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

03-09-2009, 10:40 AM	#2 (permalink)
John Zadikian Chiming in from Motown Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 320	Hey, Austin...I'll spring forward with another pair for this week so you have something to fall back on Women are becoming second-hand boutique owners...without leaving their bedrooms TRT - 6:44 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123630143440747101.html Getting the pink slip? Don't use blue language and hit the "send" button TRT - 5:40 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29533907/ __________________ John Zadikian \| On Air - On Hold - Online "Don't Pick Just Any Voice...Make A Sound Choice" www.facebook.com/jzvoice www.linkedin.com/in/zadikian www.voice123.com/johnzadikian Last edited by John Zadikian; 03-16-2009 at 10:43 AM.

03-11-2009, 06:59 AM	#5 (permalink)
ranalanricard User Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: North Port, Florida Posts: 70	...and my offering for this week is; Born in the USA? Judge Scalia says 4 votes needed for Obama's Presidential eligibility case. From World Net Daily, a story by Bob Unruh. TRT 9:55 Scalia: You need 4 votes for Obama eligibility case Last edited by ranalanricard; 03-22-2009 at 10:38 AM.

03-16-2009, 10:41 AM	#8 (permalink)
John Zadikian Chiming in from Motown Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 320	Colin...I read that story in the Akron Beacon Journal. Very cool! __________________ John Zadikian \| On Air - On Hold - Online "Don't Pick Just Any Voice...Make A Sound Choice" www.facebook.com/jzvoice www.linkedin.com/in/zadikian www.voice123.com/johnzadikian

03-16-2009, 06:52 PM	#9 (permalink)
Colin Campbell Voice Talent and Producer Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 935	Yeah, John... I like that kind of stuff. I wish they'd find out where they found the postcard though. Can it be that tough? __________________ Colin Campbell... Voice Talent... Audio Producer... www.ColinCampbellVoice.com Member SaVoa... #07040

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