Duo Podcasting Rules

Duo Podcasting Stories

Duo Podcasting Rules (Not a Draw Event)

This event combines the rules of Radio Broadcast Journalism, Duo Interpretation, and the shamelessly stolen imaginations of the Blackfoot High School 2024-25 Debate Squad. The rules for the event are as follows:

1. Time: 5:30-6:00 minutes, no “Grace period. No time signals provided Contestants may time themselves. A timing violation will result in being dropped one rank by the judge.

2. Performance: This speech must include a minimum of three pieces of news. The speech shall be a news broadcast with an original commercial of no fewer than 30 seconds and an editorial commentary about 1 or more of their news items. Commentary for this event will be defined as: comments about their chosen news articles. This may include an impact to their podcast channel, interest their character(s) may have in the story, why this story is on the show, etc.

3. Procedure: Students shall enter the room. Contestants shall sit with their back toward the judge and audience. Contestants must inform the judge which news article that they used for their commentary after completing their speech.

4. News Events: There will be 3 news events posted on the tournament webpage. Students are required to select 2 (minimum) to utilize in their speech. Students are allotted the use of 1 news article of their choice outside of the designated 3 that fits their team's podcast. The news article should account for no more than 1 minute of the speaker’s time. Competitors using an “original” news article are not allowed to provide the required commentary time using that article.

5. Expectations: Emphasis should be placed on the presentation of the news stories, commercial, and editorial commentary. Multiple characters may be used, but there should at least be 1 clear host and 1 clear guest/second host.

6. This is not a Draw Event, competitors will prepare their speeches for this event ahead of time!

Stories:

Story 1: Things get nuts at Yankee Stadium as squirrel invades field!
August 22nd, 2025

NEW YORK -- For a few surreal seconds on Friday evening, the big ballpark in the Bronx belonged not to the Yankees and Red Sox, but to a bushy-tailed intruder.

A squirrel scurried into the batter’s box during the top of the fourth inning at Yankee Stadium, bumping into Jhostynxon Garcia, providing a memorable footnote to the Red Sox rookie’s debut.

As the crowd roared, the squirrel darted up the third-base line, then paused on the mound to get a better look at Yankees left-hander Max Fried -- who did not appear to be pleased by the interruption.

“That’s the first time it’s happened to me,” Fried said after the Yankees’ 1-0 loss. “My first reaction was, ‘Don’t do anything that might embarrass you.’ I thought it was just going to run around, but it came straight to me and went in the little hole I created on the mound.”

Fried stared at the squirrel, which blinked back at him.

“At one point, I think I just said, ‘OK, buddy, let’s go,’” Fried said. “He just did his thing. It's definitely a little strange, but it’s all in good fun.”

From the mound, the squirrel moved across the infield grass to first base, prompting Ben Rice to sidestep out of its path.

“I didn’t want to touch that thing,” Rice said. “The guys are giving me crap for it. ‘Why are you scared of a squirrel?’ I don’t know where that thing’s been. It made a little noise at me.”

Play resumed as the squirrel dashed into foul ground, but Fried seemed rattled, throwing his next pitch to the backstop for ball four.

With players, coaches and grounds crew members all watching with amusement, the squirrel continued searching for an exit as the half-inning continued, bumping into walls down the line.

He finally entered the digital scoreboard on the right-field wall, which is covered by a chain-link fence, and vanished -- for now.

“Somebody’s going to make a shirt out of it and make a lot of money tomorrow,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora predicted.

Source: https://www.mlb.com/news/a-squirrel-takes-the-field-at-yankee-stadium

Story 2:Florida man with doormat reading ‘come back with a warrant’ arrested in large-scale fraud scheme

Don’t forget to wipe your feet!

A Florida man who cheekily adorned his stoop with a “come back with a warrant” doormat was arrested for an alleged “large-scale mortgage fraud scheme” on Tuesday after the local sheriff obliged his request and returned with a search warrant.

Christopher Musick, 57, allegedly posed as a “fake real estate investor” in Volusia County, according to a news release from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.

A sheriff deputy snapped a picture of Musick’s front step at his Daytona Beach home, which had a doormat that read “come back with a warrant”.

“We came back with a warrant,” the sheriff’s office wrote.

“After interviewing Musick, VSO Financial Crimes Unit detectives established probable cause to execute a search warrant at his residence, thereby satisfying the doormat’s request,” the office added.

Musick allegedly forged fraudulent documents and “pose[d] as the owner of multiple business properties” in the county, according to the release.

The accused con artist took out mortgages against the properties and used the cash to purchase even more, which he would rent out. From there, the cycle would repeat as he pocketed the rent money.

He also never paid off the loans, the sheriff’s office said.

Musick, a repeat offender with 10 priors and two outstanding warrants in Maryland, was cuffed and faces charges for organized scheme to defraud, grand theft over $100,000, and forgery.

He is being held on a $225,000 bond, according to Volusia County Corrections’ inmate records.

The Sunshine State is infamous for its menagerie of strange residents and even stranger crimes.

Source: https://nypost.com/2025/12/03/us-news/florida-man-with-come-back-with-a-warrant-doormat-arrested-in-fraud-scheme/

Story 3:Discord users' data stolen by hackers in third-party data breach

Discord has confirmed that users who contacted its customer support service have had their data stolen by hackers, who have attempted to extort a ransom from the company.

According to the hugely popular messaging platform which has more than 200 million monthly users, the hackers breached a third-party customer service provider rather than gaining access to Discord directly.

Nonetheless, the security incident has exposed data related to Discord's customer service system, including:

Name, Discord username, email and other contact details if provided to Discord customer support
Limited billing information such as payment type, the last four digits of credit cards, and purchase history if associated with accounts
IP addresses
Messages with customer service agents
Limited corporate data (training materials, internal presentations)
In addition, Discord wants that the hack has exposed a "small number" of users' government ID images (such as driving licenses and passports).

The hackers are believed to have struck on September 20, 2025, when the third-party customer service providers - which has not been named by Discord, but appears to be Zendesk - was breached.

The Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters (SLH) gang claimed responsibility on Telegram for its involvement in the attack. The hackers posted screenshots which allegedly proved their access to Discord's internal administration tools, and taunted the company about their security.

According to Discord's official statement, the compromised information is limited to users who contacted its Customer Support or Trust & Safety teams, and did not include the exposure of full credit card numbers or CCV codes, messages or activity on Discord beyond what users may have discussed with customer support, or users' passwords.

But there are obvious concerns that users will often share sensitive information and attachments with support teams that they would not want to fall into the hands of malicious hackers.

The total number of affected Discord users has not been made public. Impacted users are being contacted by the company via email.

Discord has warned users to be wary of scammers attempting to exploit the data breach, and has underlined that it will not contact affected users about the incident by phone and will only send official communications from noreply@discord.com.

Obviously it makes sense for any Discord user to be extremely cautious about any communication which arrives claiming to be related to the breach, as it may be an attempt by hackers to steal more details - such as passwords.

In the wake of the attack Discord has revoked the customer support provider's access to its ticketing system, engaged with external experts and law enforcement, and launched an internal investigation.

Unfortunately for Discord this is not the first time it has found its name hitting the headlines due to a breach at a third-party customer service provider.

In March 2023, Discord notified users that email addresses, messages, and any attachments sent with support tickets could have been exposed to hackers.

The lesson for companies reading about Discord's latest hack? Once again, third-party suppliers can be a weak link in your security chain. As organisations increasingly rely on third-party service providers, the attack surface expands beyond their direct control. It's not just about making sure that your own systems are secure, but also assessing the security of your vendors, and asking yourself if you are wise to trust their architecture.

Source: https://www.bitdefender.com/en-us/blog/hotforsecurity/discord-users-data-stolen-by-hackers-in-third-party-data-breach