The Black Press News Reader
The Black Press News Reader is an Amazon Alexa app that lets you read full-length articles published by Black Press. The app gives full access to all of Black Press's digital content from regional papers. As of October 2023, the system currently supports all of the papers across British Columbia.
How to use the Black Press News Reader
To use the app, just say to your smart speaker:
"Alexa launch the Black Press News Reader"
The system will welcome you, and offer you a list of available regions. If you already know the name of the paper you are seeking, you can ask for it directly by saying:
"Alexa, give me the Abbotsford News"
or
"Alexa, I want the Williams Lake Tribune"
The system will load the most recent articles from the requested publication, and once you have heard a title that interests you you can select it by its number. Just say:
"Alexa, select number three"
or
"Alexa, give me number seven"
The article will load and the system will narrate it to you. Congratulations, you are listening to the news!
Other Useful Features
The Black Press News Reader accepts many different commands that will help you navigate to the news you are looking for. If you don't know what papers are available, just say:
"Alexa, list the available regions"
and then you can select a region by saying
"Alexa, I want British Columbia North"
From there, the system will list the available papers and let you select one by name or number.
If you say a name the system does not recognize, it will do its best to match to an existing name. If you are having trouble loading a paper, try and select it by number after listing the region.
At any point you can ask for help while using the Black Press News Reader. The help menu will tell you how to use the system and suggest some example commands. If you still need more help, you can ask for it too! Just say,
"Alexa, help"
and after listening to the response, say:
"Alexa, give me more help"
We hope you enjoy using the news reader. You are always welcome to send feedback, just ask for help to hear the email address.
Happy listening!