Automatic podcast

An automatic podcast is a podcast feed powered directly by a site's editorial output: each published article (or a curated selection) becomes an episode, generated with text-to-speech and pushed to listening platforms. The newsroom publishes as usual; the podcast builds itself.

How it works

The mechanics come down to three steps. The article is first converted to audio, optionally with light packaging such as an opening jingle and a spoken title and date. The episode is then described in an audio RSS feed that meets platform requirements: title, description, audio file, artwork. Finally, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and the other apps poll that feed and publish the episodes automatically, exactly as they would for any podcast.

Once the feed is registered with the platforms, there is nothing left to operate: publishing an article triggers publishing an episode.

Why it matters for a regional publisher

An automatic podcast meets the audience where it already listens. Part of the public opens Spotify or Apple Podcasts every day and will never look for a player on the newspaper's site; the podcast joins them in their existing habits, in the car, in the kitchen, at the gym.

For regional news, it makes recurring formats viable at zero production cost: a daily local news digest, a weekend sports wrap, a culture selection. No local newsroom could sustain those formats if each episode had to be recorded by hand five days a week.

One limit is worth stating plainly: on the platforms, listening happens off-site, with no page view and no registration wall. An automatic podcast is a reach and brand tool; conversion happens elsewhere. That is precisely the role WeDispatch gives its automatic podcast feature: one more channel, not a replacement channel.