Can TTS Save newspapers?

Newspapers have really struggled in the internet age, with entire generations completely abandoning the process of reading the daily paper. Now, the Washington Times is turning to TTS to go after ears to replace those missing eyeballs.

Visit any story on their site and look to the bottom for the Click-2-Listen link.

More info from their site about the service:

Click-2-Listen Frequently Asked Questions

Can I download the article and listen to it later? What media players does Click-2-Listen support? Does Click-2-Listen work on both a PC and a Macintosh? What Internet browsers are supported by Click-2-Listen? Do I have to download any software for Click-2-Listen? Do you put any software on my computer without telling me? Why are some words mispronounced? Why don't I hear anything when I click on the Click-2-Listen icon? Why do certain articles not have a Click-2-Listen icon? Can I get updates or subscribe to certain types of articles? Why are there advertisements on the audio files? Can I forward an audio story to a friend or colleague? How do I put an article onto my iPod?

1.Can I download the article and listen to it later? Yes you can. Simply press the download button (looks like a diskette) on the player at any time while the article is playing. It will prompt you for a location to save the downloaded .mp3 file. If you save it to your music folder, it will likely be automatically loaded onto your MP3 player.

2. What media players does Click-2-Listen support? When you listen to an article, you don't need a media player. Click-2-Listen opens its own player right on your desktop. When you download an article to listen later, any device that can play an mp3 formatted file will work. This includes Windows Media Player, iTunes, RealPlayer, Quicktime and more. Of course you can also copy the downloaded file to your iPod or mp3 player.

3. Does Click-2-Listen work on both a PC and a Macintosh?Yes. You should be able to listen on either a PC or a Mac. You should be able to download onto either as well.

4.What Internet browsers are supported by Click-2-Listen? Click-2-Listen should work correctly with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Mozilla, and Netscape.

5.Do I have to download any software for Click-2-Listen? No you should not have to download any software. Click-2-Listen uses Adobe/Macromedia's “Flash” as the foundation for its audio player. (Most video and audio players on the Internet use Flash) Flash is more than likely already on your computer. If it is not, your computer may ask you to download Flash. You must download Flash Version 8 or higher from Adobe's/Macromedia for Click-2-Listen to work. Important Note for Firefox Users: Firefox requires you to install Flash 9. Please click here to link to the Flash Support Page to download Flash 9 for Firefox.

6. Do you put any software on my computer without telling me? No, we do not put any software on your computer.

7.Why are some words mispronounced? Converting English text to speech is very complex. While there are many English grammar and pronunciation rules, there are also thousands of exceptions. There are also many proper names and abbreviations that act as exceptions as well.Click-2-Listen uses Newsworthy, Inc.'s “Professional Text-to-Speech” technology, the most advanced technology available today. We continue to improve the technology and add new exceptions and rules every day.If we have “mangled” a specific article, phrase, proper name, or words, please let us know. We will try to fix the problems for future articles. Send us the title of the article and the date it was published and the issues you found via our “Feedback” link. You can help us improve the product and service. Thank you.

8.Why don't I hear anything when I click on the Click-2-Listen icon? First, make sure the Click-2-Listen player is running. In some rare circumstances you might have to click on the Clisk-2-Listen “Loading” image or the Click-2-Listen player to get the browser to “activate” Click-2-Listen.Second, make sure the volume on you computer and the Click-2-Listen player is turned up. Make sure the mute buttons on your computer and the Click-2-Listen player are not enabled. If that does not work, trying playing an .mp3 file with iTunes or Windows Media Player.If you are able to play other .MP3 files via iTunes or Windows Media Player yet Click-2-Listen is not playing an article, please send us some feedback (here).

9. Why do certain articles not have a Click-2-Listen icon? There can be a couple of reasons an article may not have a Click-2-Listen icon associated with it.First, if the article was just posted on the web site, we may not have converted it to audio yet. Try refreshing the web page or come back to this article in a few minutes and try again.Second, we don't convert ALL articles. Some articles do not translate well to audio. If the article you are interested in is primarily made up of “tables” of numbers, pictures, or does not have much text, we may not convert it.If you feel an article should have been translated and it has not, send us some . Please include the title of the article and date it was published. We will investigate.

10. Can I get updates or subscribe to certain types of articles? You cannot get specific articles sent to you at this time. But you will soon be able to subscribe to specific GCN Podcasts. Once you subscribe, new articles are sent to you throughout the day. GCN Podcasts are coming soon.

11.Why are there advertisements on the audio files? The conversion of our articles to high quality audio is very expensive. Revenue from advertisers offsets this expense and lets us bring these important news articles to you in audio format at no cost to you.

12.Can I forward an audio story to a friend or colleague? Yes and please do. You must first download the article to your computer and then email the downloaded MP3 file. Or you can send a link to the page that has the article on it and have them listen or download it themselves.

13. How do I put an article onto my iPod? If you have iTunes configured properly, you can automatically put articles on our iPod. You must download the article .mp3 file to your music folder, one of the folders specified in your Music Library or your iTunes Music folder. To see if you have the correct iTunes configuration: Connect your iPod to your computer From inside iTunes select Edit menu function and select Preferences… Select the iPod tab. Verify that the option “Automatically update all songs and playlists” is selected. Please note, when this option is selected, all music and audio files from your Music Library are automatically put on your iPod.