Hear! Hear!
VoicePrint: the country’s 24/7 audio newsstand

It’s a ritual that takes place millions of times a day — one that most people take for granted. A cup of coffee or tea is poured. The newspaper is picked up. And an individual begins to flip through the printed pages, immersing him or her self in the latest local, regional and national news.

     But what about the 5 million Canadians who can’t independently access newspapers, magazines or even a government document due to, for example, low literacy skills, blindness, vision restriction, physical or learning disability or just getting older?

     Where can they find more in-depth news and information than that offered by the major TV and radio broadcasters?

     The answer: VoicePrint, the non-profit broadcast service which first went on the air in 1990 after being licensed by the CRTC. Our mandate: to deliver a steady and timely flow of information that is essential to the decision-making needs of our audience. To that end, VoicePrint broadcasts readings of full-text articles 24/7 from more than 600 of Canada’s top newspapers and magazines into 10 million homes.

     VoicePrint is the nation’s only 24-hour reading service and the flagship division of The National Broadcast Reading Service Inc. (NBRS). The service is volunteer-based with more than 800 individuals donating their time and talent to record original programming at centres both large and small.

     In March 2001 VoicePrint was designated a “must carry” service for most broadcast distribution undertakings. It is accessed on the secondary audio program (S.A.P.) of CBC Newsworld and on Rogers, Eastlink and Aliant Digital by cable subscribers; audio channels of ExpressVu, Star Choice and Look; and via the Internet at http://www.voiceprintcanada.com/.

     With headquarters in Toronto, VoicePrint operates several regional broadcast centres in cities such as Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Sudbury, Ottawa and Halifax plus more than 80 Local Broadcast Centres (LBCs), part of a growing network that will increase to 100+ LBCs by 2010.

     Since 1990, VoicePrint has broadcast more news and information programming than all other Canadian television stations combined, excluding CBC Newsworld.

Find Out More:

Download our information pamphlet (PDF) or
Download the audio version of the pamphlet (MP3)