The 8.9 earthquake that hit Japan last night is absolutely devastating. I have a few friends there from my pro-wrestling promoting days and through checking Facebook, I found I had yet another friend from the Lower Mainland visiting Japan.
I Tweeted out some snippets of emails I received from my friends in Japan and radio station CKNW asked if I could put them in touch with a friend (Kevin) for an interview. Of course being radio, the mighty NW wanted audio – but did not have a Skype connection that could be easily connected to their soundboard.
No problem – I was able to use Skype to call Kevin then 3 way call to CKNW’s newsroom landline for the interview and all this cost about $3 for the Skype monthly subscription.
If you are a newsroom wanting to do the same thing here is how you do it:
1. Sign up for the Skype account which lets you make unlimited calls to landlines and cell phones in the US and Canada then brand the account specifically for your newsroom. Cost is roughly $3 per month and this will take less than 10 minutes to complete with your credit card or Paypal account as payment.
2. Fire up Skype (yes, I am assuming you have installed, etc – this is a bit of a rushed post!).
3. Add / friend the person with whom you will call on Skype via their username. Sometimes the person has to accept your request, sometimes not.
4. From the top menu in Skype click CALL. A dialpad will appear. Type in the phone number for your newsroom / sound booth where the host will speak to the interviewee then click the big green CALL button.
5. While Skype is contacting your soundbooth, click ADD PEOPLE at the bottom of the screen. Type in the name of the person you wish to interview on Skype – either their real name or their username will work. Click on their name from the drop box and hit the green ADD TO CALL button.
6. You will now have two windows on your screen – one for your soundbooth and one for the interviewee. Make the introductions and if this is an “emergency situation” confirm the interviewee is safe.
7. So that you do not interupt the interview, explain that you are going to mute your mic and when the interview is over, disconnect the call.
8. At the bottom of the screen is an icon of a microphone with a slash through it – click on that and the “Microphone muted” message will appear on your screen.
9. You can now listen to the interview and when complete, hit the END CALL button at the bottom of the screen.
This is an inexpensive way to get interview subjects on your airwaves and get current on the ground descriptions of breaking events.
As always, if you have questions or if you are a newsroom who would like me to play operator and make this happen today, just ask – dave@dave.ca.
[...] in Japan. Port Coquitlam's Dave Teixerira used Skype to make contact with friends in Japan, posting advice on his blog for journalists and others who were trying to get through. Early reports spread faster on social [...]
[...] in Japan. Port Coquitlam's Dave Teixeira used Skype to make contact with friends in Japan, posting advice on his blog for journalists and others who were trying to get through. Early reports spread faster on social [...]