Doberman Media is the first and, so far, only media outlet in the queer and Russian-language segment to launch an AI-powered article narration feature directly on its site. The development was made possible by a grant from Microsoft Azure for nonprofit organizations.
What it is
An embedded audio player has been added to Russian-language articles (narration is not yet available on pages in other languages): with a single click, an article is turned into an AI-narrated audio retelling — it’s specifically a retelling of the content, not a word-for-word reading of the text. Importantly, this isn’t a third-party retelling service or an embedded external widget — the player and all the narration logic were built in-house by the Doberman Media team as our own plugin, with no outside contractors involved.
Dozens of articles already have narration — here are a few to start with (just click the player at the top of the article):
- Немецкий фермер спасает баранов-геев от бойни — и на вырученные деньги помогает людям бежать от преследований
- Главные гомофобы — геи? Почему смерть Линдси Грэма и слухи о его «двойной жизни» — это прежде всего история о российской политической элите
- Меня пытается переделать мой партнер. Со мной всё нормально? А с нашими отношениями?
- В Украине сняли образовательный сериал о ЛГБТ-военнослужащих в ВСУ. Это важный шаг к инклюзии в армии (и не только)
Narration isn’t enabled on every article yet: we’re selectively adding it to the pieces we consider most important, most interesting, or particularly long, so readers aren’t stuck with lengthy audio where it isn’t needed. Still, we’re glad to be the first to implement this at all, and we’ll keep expanding the list over time.
Why we built it
The feature serves several purposes at once:
- Accessibility. Being able to listen to articles is valuable for readers who are blind or have low vision, as well as for anyone who finds listening easier than reading from a screen.
- Safety. The audio version can be turned on while driving, or in any other situation where looking at a screen isn’t safe or practical.
- Saving time. Articles can be listened to on the go, while commuting, or while doing other things — without having to stop and read.
Why it matters
Doberman Media is a queer media outlet committed to moving fast and staying technologically current. The team emphasizes that the project isn’t driven by commercial gain but by care for its readers — and this launch is another step in that direction.
“This is only the beginning,” says Doberman Media founder Sergey Sadovsky. “The grant helps us keep growing. We’ve been around for just over two years, but in that time we’ve done things that many haven’t managed to do in decades on the Russian-language internet. We keep launching one project after another, and we’re not planning to stop.”