3/10/08 Episode 2: The News From The WWW - Volunteer Now!

Austin Grammer

Thanks again to everyone who has volunteered so far! You can listen to previous episodes here: www.austingrammer.com/IRR to have a listen to the one hour program (40MB MP3).

New Volunteers are welcome and encouraged to join! Check out these past threads for background on this project and/or check out the website above:
http://voiceoversavvy.com/ftopic4981.html
http://voiceoversavvy.com/ftopic4876.html

UPDATES:

I got really good feedback from the station managers who are currently airing the program. They really appreciate having the show and enjoy the mix of professional voices and variety of stories. The two suggestions they had are:

1. "Please choose / read articles that are longer than 2 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)

2. "Please add a closing tag to your article to help with the transition between articles." I should have thought of this! Going forward, please close your piece with: STORY, PAUSE, "For the News From The World Wide Web, I'm [YOUR NAME].

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 96 or 128k MP3, 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 3/9/08.

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.

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:

"Hi, this is [MY NAME] from [CITY, STATE] and [YOUR DOT COM WEBSITE (if applicable)] with an article about __________(very 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:

"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
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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:

With Oil Prices Rising, Wood Makes a Comeback
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/us/19woodstove.html

The Advantages of Closing a Few Doors
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/science/26tier.html?ei=5087&em=&en=2ed3c327ef3d4df4&ex=1204434000&pagewanted=print

Facing Default, Some Walk Out on New Homes - "You Walk Away.com"
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/us/29walks.html?ei=5087&em=&en=6405f44e3f6019a8&ex=1204434000&pagewanted=print

EU looks to limit use of radio ID tags- What signals are your clothes sending?
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/29/business/RFID.php

Diane Havens · Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008, 17:17 (GMT) Post subject:

Hi, Austin --
I'll take the article:
Americans are working harder on less sleep: poll

Run time 3:16

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080303/lf_nm_life/sleep_survey_dc;_ylt=AjeSc.yqq_Fto0xy_d_MIw0DW7oF

Scott Pollak · Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008, 17:39 (GMT) Post subject:

Think I'll go it on my own this time and do this story that I stumbled across:

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8V6D8OO0&show_article=1

"Woman's Gang Memoir Is Fake, Recalled"

Cameron Thomas · Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008, 17:43 (GMT) Post subject:

I'll give this one a shot

With Oil Prices Rising, Wood Makes a Comeback
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/us/19woodstove.html

Dave DeAndrea · Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008, 20:45 (GMT) Post subject:

Here's a couple of stories about excuses people make to get out of work:

Employees' excuses to get out of work range from outrageous to audacious

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2004/07/05/smallb4.html

I need a day off - so shoot me

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2750377.html?menu=

Roger Baker · Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008, 00:21 (GMT) Post subject: Mine

Hi everyone.

I think I'll try this one on iPod crime:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080304/ap_on_hi_te/ipods_crime;_ylt=ArUaBSoMM8uVLn1.L8odFp0jtBAF

Thanks
Roger

EDIT: Here is mine. Run Time - 6:13

Scott Pollak · Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008, 01:39 (GMT) Post subject:

Women's Gang Memoir is a Fake; Recalled
From Breitbart.com
Read by Scott R. Pollak
TRT: 3:08

Colin Campbell · Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008, 02:54 (GMT) Post subject:

I've got dibbs on the home forclosure story.

Link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/us/29walks.html?ei=5087&em=&en=6405f44e3f6019a8&ex=1204434000&pagewanted=print

"Facing Default, Some Walk Out on New Homes."

Running Time: 7:47.

To fit on Savvy, this is sampled down to 64 kbps, .mp3.

Craig Koepke · Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008, 02:58 (GMT) Post subject:

I found one that might be of interest to many of the elderly. It's about a rare photo of Helen Keller and her teacher Ms. Sullivan. It's believed to be the first photo of the two getting to know one another and the only photo known to show Helen with a doll on her lap.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jx5UkYp5N1mBlA4hm74zF_MZc9RwD8V7LG100

Run time: 4:45

Scott Pollak · Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008, 03:14 (GMT) Post subject:

Wow, Craig... what a cool story!
Our theater did "The Miracle Worker" a year or two ago and that story has always astounded me.

Mike Norgaard · Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008, 17:44 (GMT) Post subject:

Story about establishment and population of international "doomsday vault" seed bank in Norway.

3:09

Mike Norgaard

ALREADY READ - disregard.

Sorry, what are the odds?

Scott Pollak · Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008, 18:48 (GMT) Post subject:

Mike, I read that doomsday vault story in the last issue of the www news.

Claire Dodin · Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008, 21:32 (GMT) Post subject:

ok, this week I've got 2 short stories:

One about the Mayor of the village where my family lives in the south of France: he outlawed death

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080306/tod-france-death-offbeat-7f81b96.html

And one about a study that may help smokers to quit:

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20080307/thl-uk-smoking-lungs-acc9995.html

total time: 4min36

John Weeks · Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2008, 12:32 (GMT) Post subject:

I'll take this one on what fish to buy...
http://www.newhouse.com/let-your-taste,-and-your-priorities,-guide-your-choices-2.html

"Let your taste and your priorities, guide your choices"
2:39

Cameron Thomas · Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2008, 18:56 (GMT) Post subject:

With Oil Prices Rising, Wood Makes a Comeback
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/us/19woodstove.html
Cameron Thomas
Runtime: 6:24