• by Melynda Fuller , January 13, 2019

In a move to explore leveraging voice to reach current and new audiences, The New York Times launched a new endeavor that allow readers to access content through their Alexa-driven devices.

Monica Drake, assistant managing editor of The New York Times, noted the newspaper is experimenting with "the ways voice can work in conjunction with stayed mediums, like print, while also exploring native Times experiences, like the flash briefing and interactive news quiz, built specifically for voice services.”

On Sunday, January 13, the print edition features a series of prompts that readers can use to hear more coverage across travel, music and books.

It includes a special section focused on the travel section’s annual list of “52 Places to Go,” music editor Caryn Ganz’s weekly roundup called “The Pop Music Roundup” and insight into what the paper’s book critics and editors are reading at The New York TimesBook Review.

Each of these features will be ongoing and continue to evolve.

On weekdays, readers can hear a short news briefing by saying: “Alexa, enable The New York Times Briefing.” Hosted by  Michael Barbaro of "The Daily," the news briefing, once enabled, covers the tops stories of the day through the prompts “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?” or “Alexa, what’s in the news?”

Users can also access a daily news quiz by saying: “Alexa, play The New York Times news quiz.”

The company’s move into voice opens up additional opportunities for collaborations with advertisers and sponsors. The Times’ branded content studio T Brand Studio will work with Audi to create a skill for Alexa-enabled devices, an inaugural venture for the publisher.