Even Reuters Transcribes it's News!

Copyright (c) 2009 Ajay Prasad

In the last four years in particular the Podcasts have taken a unique place in the data exchange over the Internet. A podcast is a series of digital computer files usually either audio or video that is released periodically and made available for download by means of web syndication. Transcription of Podcasts has taken immense importance such that even news agencies like Reuters are transcribing their pod casts over the Internet. For syndication you need to have client software applications known as podcather. It helps to store the podcasts in your computer or other device for offline use.

Podcasting is extremely analogous to this but for one exception. The new content is not read from the desktop system but is read from one's ipod or other portable media player device. The website owner publishes the file he wants to keep open for subscription via RSS feeds. Podcasting transcription is an excellent way to be noticed by search engines. The transcription services would acquire your podcasts either through feeds or through an upload location.

Also if you have only one or two recordings or video/audio files at your site, it is a good option to transcribe it. You may say that we can transcribe the podcast ourselves. By providing you the transcribed version we are saving your time and effort. Besides by providing the transcription, you will be providing a spiderable resource that can be easily scanned, quoted, cut and paste.

For those who are hearing impaired, transcribed version of audio is very helpful. It also solves the problem of indexing as audio files cannot be indexed and searched. There are a multiple levels of transcription of podcasts. The summary version just gives the main points of the podcast and pulled into text. The strict verbatim is sound typed transcription which includes uhs, ums and sentences pauses. Then, there is cleaned up verbatim, which filters the filler sound like ahs but includes sentence pauses and stutters etc. In the last form of transcription, the edited form of transcription, the fillers such as sentence pauses, stutters, and restarts are omitted. This form of transcription is cleaner, and looks better in writing, making it easier for the reader to understand.

For an experienced transcriptionist, one hour of audio will take from three to four hours to transcribe. For someone just learning to transcribe, that one hour of audio can take six or more hours to transcribe.

Even news agencies like Reuters transcribe their podcasts. It implemented the speech transcription system as early as 2007 which increased the advertising targetability which increased the number of download requests. After the increased popularity of pocasts, Reuters began to deliver latest news on your portable media player. You may find the Reuters news podcasts at http://www.reuters.com/tools/podcasts/video.

Nowadays Reuters provide the transcribed version of news audio and video podcasts for their readers. The readers can now get the listing by tying the keywords of the news. For those who wish to read the news rather than watch the video, transcribed version is very useful.

Reuters also give you the option of downloading the transcribed version of the podcast along with the original video or audio file.