Imagine my surprise when I checked on the Cincinnati Enquirer homepage and saw a section dedicated to podcasting. With a catch line of, “get your news fix on your iPod?” how could you not be interested?
I popped over to the page with the Cincinnati Enquirer podcasts and expected the following:
- Stories from the Cincinnati Enquirer. I wasn’t disappointed here, as it looks like the material is mostly local.
- Stories read by Cincinnati Enquirer staff. Unless you count a software service with an automated voice as staff, you’re going to be disappointed.
- More in-depth coverage. A podcast from a newspaper should increase the offering of their stories. With the Cincinnati Enquirer the information presented is right in the article.
As you can surmise, the “podcasts” are automatically computer generated voices reading copy from the website. The service is provided by podmynews. The voice reading the news is better than what you’d find normally, but is still tinny, no sense of rhythm or emphasis. I found a few of the stories to have run on sentences to the point I’d have to listen two or three times to understand.
Interesting.
Kudos to the Cincinnati Enquirer for trying something new, but an automated voice reading news stories already on the site? Yes, they say it’s a test, but you should probably lead with the best material.
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