Tutorial for posting role – War News Radio

Here is a brief web posting tutorial, until it changes again. This file details every step, but the process is not very time consuming.

There are 4 responsibilities:
1 – Post the show file and segments to PRX; create a new show post on the WNR site and schedule segment posts.
2 – Post the show file to Podbean.
3 – Post segments to YouTube.
4 – Post segments to SoundCloud.

POST THIS MONTH’S SHOW TO PUBLIC RADIO EXCHANGE (PRX)

*UPDATED 13.05.22 AED

To post a file from GarageBand to prx.org, you must export a .aif file and then convert it to an mp3. It is the responsibility of the person in the GarageBand production role to do this, but if they do not, you can follow the steps for exporting/bouncing in the GarageBand tutorial.

1. Go to www.prx.org, and log in:

username: warnewsradio
password: (the usual)

2. On the right hand side of the page, click ‘Create a piece’ in the box titled ‘Getting Started’.

3. Upload mp2 of entire show file under “Pick an audio file:”

[The “Basics” Step — “Let’s get this going…”]

4. Switch “Account” from “WNR Producer” to “War News Radio” if it has not already switched.
5. Add this week’s show title to “Title”
6. For “Short Description”: “News and features on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan”
7. For “Long Description”: copy and paste from show description from WNR website. (If you haven’t published the website yet, “Preview” your webpost and copy and paste from there to avoid having to cut out all the .html). Delete the words “Listen now to [Reporter’s] report.” from each line.
8. Click on “Save and Continue” at bottom right of screen.

[The “Describe” Step — “Can I get some more?”]

9. For “Producers”: type name of producer and click on “Add Producer” for each name individually.

10. For “Images”: it’s crucial to only use images we have the rights to use. Since we rarely take pictures as part of our reporting, usually you will have to venture onto the internet to find a relevant image, but it must be usable under a Creative Commons license.

FOR SHOWS: Find an appropriate show image from Flickr by searching Creative Commons-licensed content ONLY here or by searching WikiMedia Commons. You will probably have the most success by searching keywords from the Long Description. Credit images username/Flickr or username/WikiMedia Commons.

FOR PIECES: The reporter will have saved an image in the same folder as their piece, with credit info.

In both cases, photos usually look nicest if you resize them and/or crop them into a square. The easiest way to do this is to use a free service called PicMonkey, which is very intuitive. You should also take into account whether your photo will work as an icon-sized image or whether it is best as a larger image on the warnewsradio.org site.

11. For “Topics”: select “War” and other appropriate descriptors. Click “Save Topics.”
12. For “Formats”: select appropriate descriptors. Click “Save Formats.”
13. For “Tones”: select appropriate descriptor. Don’t forget to “Save Tones.”
14. For “Details”: select Friday show date for “Production Date,” select English for “Language,” add http://www.warnewsradio.org for “Related Website,” and add Swarthmore College for “Additional Credits.”
15. Click on “Save and Continue” at bottom right of screen.

[The “Licensing” Step — “How do you want to offer this?”]

16. Set “Pricing” to Free [Note: If you have not uploaded the audio yet, it will say “$0.00 dollars” for all options. This is not the same as free. It should say “Free” in the box.]
17. For “Offer the piece on its website as,” select “as a free MP3 download and stream.”
18. For “Edit or excerpt my piece,” select “only with permission.”
19. Click on “Save and Continue” at bottom right of screen.
20. Double-check preview of piece. If you’d like to change any information, you can return to the Basics, Describe, or Licensing steps.
21. Click on “Publish.”

POST SEGMENTS TO PRX:

This follows more or less the same process as above, except that you will have to adjust the Long Description, image, tones, etc. as appropriate to the piece. Take a listen to the piece to get an idea, or if possible, chat with reporters about their pieces before posting.

POSTING TO warnewsradio.org:

1) Login. (the usual)
2) Click “Posts”
3) Click either “Add New” under “Posts” at left, or “New Post” button at top, right.

Enter post title in “Enter Title” box.

Be mindful of Visual/HTML tabs at top, right of post box

In visual view, mouse over and click the “Add Image” button, just next to “Upload/Insert”

Upload photo (either the same photo as in PRX or a different one if desired), then complete form:
Add caption, which should be the photo credit. Add link back to photo source, if not our original content
Alignment: Center
Size: Large (576), although you might need to adjust it.

When you see the photo in the post box, past the Long Description text beneath it.

Finally, toggle to the HTML view and add the PRX Large Player code.

Under “Categories” in the right column, check off “War News Radio Online”, “This Week on War News Radio”, and the YearSemester (for example, Spring 2013).

Click “Publish” and go back to the site to check the post.

You can now repeat a similar process for each of the segments. You should schedule these posts to be published throughout the week. Try to stagger them so that we have a new post every day or every other day depending on the number of segments.

POSTING TO PODBEAN:

Click “My Dashboard” and then “Publish new show”

Please include show title under “Title” and brief description (again, the Long Description from PRX) under “Post.”

Upload the mp3 and click “Publish.” This will also eventually populate our iTunes podcast and all other feeds.

POSTING TO YOUTUBE:

First, you need to create a video (more like a one slide audio slideshow) for each piece. You can do this in iMovie, Final Cut Pro X, or another simple video editor that you’re familiar with. If you plan on using iMovie, here’s how:

1. Open up iMovie and create a new project.
2. Make the title of the project the title of the final piece. Adjust the aspect ration to Standard 4:3 and leave the frame rate.
3. Drag in the photo from the piece and the piece .mp3 over it. This should fit the audio to the duration of the image.
4. Since the duration of the image is short by default, click on the gear in the lower left corner of the clip and select ‘Clip Adjustments.’Change the duration so that it is the same duration of the clip.
5. Select the Crop tool and turn off ‘Ken Burns’ on the photo (which causes a slow pan) if this is the default on your workstation.

Now, you’re all set to upload the piece. If you’re using iMovie, then all you have to do is

6. Click ‘Share’ -> YouTube…
7. Add the WarNewsRadio account or select it from the dropdown menu, using the universal username and password.
8. Select ‘News & Politics’ under ‘Categories’
9. Paste in the Long Description and tag as appropriate.
10. Publish in Medium.

If you’re not in iMovie and the video is exported, simply

1. Log in to YouTube using the universal username and password. Hit ‘Upload’ at the top of the screen.
2. Upload the movie, with the information as listed in steps 8-10 above.

POSTING TO SOUNDCLOUD:

1. Log in to SoundCloud, using the usual username and password.
2. Click Upload in the upper righthand corner, and then choose the file.
3. Update the segment description by adapting the anchor intro to the piece or (if you’re familiar with the piece) writing a new, clever hook.
4. Under ‘Type’ select podcast and for ‘Genre’ write news, talk, feature, commentary, or another relevant descriptor. Tag the piece as relevant.
5. Unless the reporter/producer indicates otherwise, post the work under a Creative Commons Attribution license; this will encourage other audio producers/distributors/audience members to share our work widely without the fear of copyright infringement. Similarly, make sure the track is public and enable downloads if you wish.
6. Click Save, and you’re done!