Radio reporter regains a voice with new technology

Two years ago, longtime radio reporter Jamie Dupree encountered what others in his profession might see as an unsurmountable challenge: He lost his voice.

The 54-year-old veteran political newsman found a workaround: He focused on text-based reporting and communicated with interview subjects through note cards.

But not being able to speak was not just a problem in his profession; it affected every area of his life.

Now he may have found a solution. A Scottish company that creates text-to-speech technology has crafted a new "voice" for Dupree: software turns his typed sentences into spoken words.

CereProc used audio recordings from Dupree's decades on the air to create a voice that sounded as much as possible like him.

 

He says the voice "sounds slightly robotic, but I could hear myself.