First UK council launches 'podcast' newspaper on iTunes

Slough Borough Council claims it has become the first local authority in the country to have its community newspaper available as a podcast on iTunes.

The concept was introduced to make The Citizen more accessible for people who are partially sighted or blind and for people who may have trouble reading.

Council bosses also hope that the younger generation might even download it to their MP3 players and become more involved in their area.

Kate Pratt, editor of The Citizen at Slough Borough Council, said: "In today's society it's a good idea to move with the times and everyone seems to love iTunes.

"As a council, we have a responsibility to make sure all our residents have the opportunity to know what's happening in their town and by having the stories read out, it helps those who may otherwise not be able to read the paper.

"It's also a fun way to distribute The Citizen and certainly very different."

Councillor Dexter Smith said: "We are really pleased to be the first local authority to have come up with this idea and put it into practice.

"The idea to put the council's popular resident's newspaper onto a podcast is genius. It will allow even more residents to feel involved in the borough and know what is going on around them."

The Citizen is distributed to more than 45,000 homes in the Slough Borough area and has been published since 1975.

Residents can listen to the news and events happening in the borough by logging onto www.slough.gov.uk/citizen and either listen to the podcast or download it from iTunes.

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