Dispatch.com's "Homeless Man With A Golden Voice" Now International Sensation

Online, January 13, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Columbus Dispatch photojournalist Doral Chenoweth III captured the world's attention and dramatically changed the life of one man this week, simply by stopping to hear his story. Ted Williams, now known as the "Homeless Man with a Golden Voice," went from homeless to headlines with the simple click of a video post on dispatch.com. The wild popularity of the video, which has received more than 10 million hits online, and drawn the attention of international media, garnering coverage everywhere from the BBC to CBS News, and on tens of thousands of blogs originating around the world.

Due to the broad appeal of Williams' story, Dispatch.com has created a special web page, dispatch.com/goldenvoice, dedicated to telling more of William's powerful story and aggregating a collection of some of the dozens of media interviews, blog posts and other stories. The site features the original Dispatch video, as well as the emotional meeting of Williams with his mother, a tour of his tent city home and some of his national media appearances.

Standing on an interstate ramp corner, Williams first caught Chenoweth's eye with his cardboard sign, which read "I have a God given gift of voice." Chenoweth visited with Williams to hear his story, returning a few days later with a simple Flip video camera to record that now-famous "golden voice." Not long after the video was posted to dispatch.com, it spread virally across the internet via YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and other sites, creating a social media phenomenon. As a result, job offers for Williams have come flooding in.

"In my work, I meet homeless people all the time," Chenoweth said. "Everyone has a story to tell. We just have to be willing to stop and listen to it."

The Dispatch Printing Company is a privately held, family-owned media organization based in central Ohio whose affiliates include The Columbus Dispatch, The Dispatch Broadcast Group (WBNS-10TV and the Ohio News Network in Columbus, OH., & WTHR-TV and SkyTrak Weather-WALV-CA-in Indianapolis, IN.), 97.1 TheFan Sports Radio, ThisWeek Community Newspapers, alive!, Capital Style, Dispatch Digital (with more than two dozen Central Ohio websites), Radio Sound Network, On Target Marketing/TheBAG, Fronteras, Columbus Parent and The Central Ohio Home & Garden and Best Of Fall shows.
-30-

Interviews with, video and photos of Doral Chenoweth III are available.
Contact Amy Weirick, (848-8380) or [email protected]