Iowa Radio Reading Information Service (IRIS)

IRIS is my Window to the World!"

The volunteer Voices of IRIS read newspapers aloud over a custom radio network for more than 11,000 print-disabled Iowans. 

Listeners can hear readings from eleven Iowa newspapers on custom radios that are provided to them at no cost. They can also connect to IRIS readings on their computers, smartphones and smart speakers or antenna TV through Iowa PBS. 

From Opinions to Obituaries, IRIS keeps our listeners connected to their communities with local information they simply cannot get anywhere else. 

Generally, over 600 volunteers read from seven IRIS studio locations across Iowa. When the pandemic closed our studios (for now), our readers quickly learned how to record their newspapers from home! Each week, home readers deliver an  average of 72 hour-long audio files . 

With the pandemic and recent devastating storm damage, local information has never been more important.  The 24/7 IRIS signal keeps our listeners informed and engaged with that information. 

"Social Distancing" is new for most of us, but it is nothing new to our listeners. IRIS is a human voice - a human connection - that helps relieve the isolation that so many of our listeners face.