Anyone heard anything abou USA Voice

Saw this ad today on careerbuilderr.com and wondered what was up...

In July 2006 USA Voice is launching the world's largest news organization. The power of the Internet is allowing USA Voice to launch a worldwide news network, focusing on news reported by local reporters in over 1,000 cities worldwide.

We are seeking a reporter in each of the following categories

Business Reporter
Political Reporter
Sports Reporter
Investigative Reporter
Restaurant Critic
Literary Critic
Movie Critic
Gossip Reporter

Our Reporters must have the following traits:

Excellent Writing skills
Innate ability to find the truth
Ability to be objective and leave personal biases behind

We offer reporters the following:

A highly competitive compensation package
including top benefits package
Worldwide exposure as part of a worldwide news organization
Rapid advancement opportunities
Profit Sharing

* We are seeking both full-time and part-time reporters.

 

I noticed their ads on CareerBuilder yesterday and checked out the Web site: http://www.usavoice.org/

What's weird is they're advertising for all these journalism jobs all over the country but then there's this statement on the Web site:

If you're not willing to look at people who got into this business through traditional methods, how the hell do you expect to fill all these jobs?

Just from reading what's on the site now, I'm guessing they'll last four months, tops.

 

I prowled the website, and it looks like it will be web, not print driven....which is even stranger if true..

 

Who's the $$$$$$?

 

Got a response....
Now, I never turned in a resume, never gave any hint that I work in newspapers; only allowed that I had a bachelor's degree...


Dear Slappy,

I have received your online application for the Reporter position that you completed . USA Voice is poised to become the largest news network in the world by providing local news from local reporters.

Our reporters must be a part of the community that they cover, not working from an ivory tower. I feel that you may be qualified for our opening as a reporter in [state]. I would like to receive some additional information from you before making a final decision

Please log into our website www.usavoice.org using the following username and password:

Once you have logged in please complete the application. I will respond to your completed application within 1 – 3 business days.

We are delighted that you are interested in joining our organization and I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Warm Regards
Kyle Stone

 

I was wondering if there was anything new on this. I guess I screwed up when I told them about my experience at "establishment" news organizations. ;D
I'm really curious who is starting this, and what their angle is. What is their agenda with this thing? There's gotta be something.
Anyway, anyone know anything more?

 

There are more red flags here than the 1959 24 Hour of Le Mans.

I did a Whois lookup on usavoice.org and usavoice-news.com, the two sites affiliated with USA Voice. The first site is registered c/o Network Solutions. The second is through a company called Domains by Proxy, which allow you to register without having your information publicly available. Even Googling Kyle Stone and USA Voice comes up with nothing definitive. Unless this is the Kyle Stone who (insert Troy McClure voice) you may know from such instructional videos such as "Space Nuts," and "Blowjob Adventures of Dr. Fellatio 17."

So why don't these folks say who they are?

Plus, this graf on the web site gave me pause:

Reporters are judged based on their feedback and traffic of their stories. Ronald Reagan once stated that States should be allowed to make whatever laws the wanted and that people would vote with their feet – in other words they would choose to live in a community where they liked the laws. USA Voice allows the readers to vote with their eyes, and with their keyboard.

Does this mean if you get a poor rating or low traffic, you're fired? Not exactly unfettered journalism.

This whole thing to me smells like a low-rent way to get people to "report" for nothing, as opposed to the high-rent way we have now. Proceed with extreme caution.

 

You know what the funny thing is? I too googled "kyle Stone" and came up with the porn links. So then I looked at the original ad, there was a name Heather Hunter. I googled that name, and guess what came up? That's right, another porn star. Makes me wonder what type of films their movie critic will be reviewing.

 

With so many sports organizations requiring credentialed reporters to have some sort of a printed product -- at least periodically -- I wonder what kind of sports presence they will have.

 

Does anyone get the sense that USA Voice could be some sort of pyramid scheme? They have a website that says you can make money while reading the news on their site. So maybe they want you 'as a reporter' to invest in some sort of USA Voice owned website where you charge subscriptions for people 'in your neighborhood;' to read news 'by the people of your community'

I agree something weird is up since they seem to be doing TONS of hiring, but little explanation. Besides, where's all this money coming from to hire tons of reporters, account execs and PR Reps???

 

This is a scam.

http://www.klaasdevriesjr.nl/k-files/talentrock/usa_voice_usavoice_org.htm

 

Damn, I was so hoping to cover Alabama football this season