The Tampa Bay Times is now available at your command through your voice-activated smart speaker!

We’ve created a news briefing for you to listen from your Amazon Alexa virtual assistant. Every Monday through Friday, you’ll be able to access two minutes of local news and events, read by Times journalists through your home device. (We also have a version for Google Home, which you can learn about here.)

Even if you’re not accustomed to using your Alexa for news, listening to the Times news briefing is easy. Simply tell your device, “Alexa, read me the news from the Tampa Bay Times.” Give it a try!

You also can listen to the latest episode in the player below:

If you like what you hear, you can set up the flash briefing skill in Alexa so it plays every day. Follow the steps below and the Times will play on your smart speaker with the rest of your flash briefings.

Download and open the Amazon Alexa app.

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Tap the menu in the upper left-hand corner and select “Skills & Games.”

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Tap the magnifying glass in the upper right-hand corner of the screen and search for “Tampa Bay Times.” Then, tap on “Tampa Bay Times Flash Briefing.”

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Tap the “ENABLE TO USE” button to add the skill.

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Once you do that, tap the “SETTINGS” button, then choose “Manage Flash Briefings.”

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Tap “Edit” in the upper right-hand corner and hold the “=” symbol to slide the Tampa Bay Times into the first position. Then tap “Done.”

Now you can ask Alexa “What’s in the news?” or “What’s my flash briefing?” to hear the Times flash briefing.

If you don’t have an Alexa device, you can listen to the Flash Briefing through the app by tapping on the icon located on the bottom toolbar and ask “What’s in the news?” or “What’s my flash briefing?”