Newsline: Ready-Reference Guide

NFB-NEWSLINE® IN MICHIGAN



WHAT IS NFB-NEWSLINE®?

NFB-NEWSLINE® is an electronic text-to-speech technology that delivers both local and national newspapers, using synthetic speech, over conventional telephone lines, free of charge to blind and print handicapped readers who apply for the service by filling out an application to verify eligibility.  Persons can also sign up through any Michigan Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.  Readers are issued their own passwords so they can access NFB-NEWSLINE® anytime they wish, 24 hours a day. There are three editions of each paper: the current day’s paper, the previous day’s paper and a Sunday edition (if one was published.)

Over one-hundred newspapers and 3 magazines are available on NFB-NEWSLINE®.  NFB-NEWSLINE® is easy to use and has features that make it possible for the blind user to quickly review the daily contents of several papers, skip from article to article, adjust the speed and tone of the speech, and even learn the spelling of names.  

NFB-NEWSLINE® also contains a local channel produced by the National Federation of the Blind of Michigan.  The local channel provides listeners with locally programmed information such as calendars of events, newsletters, brochures, useful telephone numbers, and other information about the system or its sponsors. 

Newsline for the Blind of Michigan maintains a telephone help-line, manned by a volunteer, that offers individual assistance to readers or those who are interested in learning about NFB-NEWSLINE®.


HOW AND WHEN DID NFB-NEWSLINE® GET STARTED?

NEWSLINE started in early 1999 with a two-year grant from the Family Independence Agency, Michigan Commission for the Blind and the Library of Michigan.  Newsline was offered via a local phone call in the following five Michigan cities: Detroit, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing and Marquette. Five daily newspapers were available: the Detroit Free Press, the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today and the Chicago Tribune.

In 2001, Newsline for the Blind of Michigan expanded to meet the needs of the visually impaired and print handicapped throughout the state by offering their service statewide through a toll-free number.  This was accomplished through grants from private foundations, including the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan.

In 2002, NEWSLINE in Michigan was able to continue to offer its services statewide with the help of a one-time federal grant.  In addition, upgrades to the service were made, making it possible for readers of NFB-NEWSLINE® to access over fifty daily newspapers in addition to an information channel devoted to information regarding services to the blind in the state of Michigan.  Also, NFB-NEWSLINE® implemented an online registration process.  This allowed the volunteers to process applications more efficiently.

Now over one hundred newspapers are sent digitally over the phone lines to central headquarters at the National Federation of the Blind in Baltimore.  Currently, the National Federation of the Blind of Michigan needs to raise $40,000 per year to provide over one-hundred papers, including three local papers.  To add more local Michigan papers, we will need to raise additional funds. Currently, a federal grant covers the expense of the phone charges for Newsline.

Day-to-day outreach and administrative duties continue to be handled by a volunteer coordinator working from home, organizing volunteers throughout the state of Michigan, many of whom are blind or have other disabilities.

Our goal is to secure permanent funding for NFB-NEWSLINE® so we can continue to offer NEWSLINE in Michigan. Toward this goal, we are researching the possibility of legislation and becoming a state project of Michigan Lions Clubs. 


WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF NFB-NEWSLINE®?

NFB-NEWSLINE® fills an information gap experienced by a growing number of senior citizens who lose their vision due to macular degeneration or other degenerative eye diseases.  Now seniors can keep in touch with their community and the world and have timely access to information about services available to the blind and visually impaired. 

Blind professionals, with the help of NFB-NEWSLINE®, are able to converse about relevant data they heard on their audio-newspaper right along with their sighted colleagues.  These professionals need no longer to be under-informed about facts and ideas critical to their profession and community.  Diminishing ignorance about current affairs will generally improve socialization at work and within the community.

Blind parents now have ready access to useful information such as community events, lifestyle trends, and household issues, as well as current events that they can discuss with their children.  

Blind students can now work alongside their sighted peers on daily news projects for social studies.  

The blind, for the first time, can get quick access to newspapers--everything from stock quotes, business trends, and human interest stories, to sports information, editorials, and much more.  A sense of participation in the family, community and the world is greatly facilitated. 



HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Contributions are desperately needed to continue NFB-NEWSLINE®.  If you would like to donate to NFB-NEWSLINE®, please send your tax-deductible donation to National Federation of the Blind of Michigan, 1212 North Foster, Lansing, MI 48912.  Please write the word “NEWSLINE” in the memo section of your check to designate that your donation should go to Newsline for the Blind of Michigan. For further information on Contributing to NFB-NEWSLINE® please call Fred Wurtzel, President National Federation of the Blind of Michigan at (517) 485-0326.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

For further information contact, Georgia Kitchen: Volunteer Coordinator, Newsline for the Blind of Michigan by calling (810) 233-4776 or visit our web site at www.nfbmi.org. You may write Newsline at Newsline for the Blind of Michigan, 2809 Lapeer Road, Flint, Michigan 48503.

This page was last modified October 16, 2006 11:28 PM EST.