Join SPJ DC Pro Chapter for a tour of WTOP radio’s (103.5/107.7 FM) new facilities Tuesday, Feb. 18, 6:30 to 8 p.m. The “glass-enclosed nerve center” of the region’s all-news station is located at 5425 Wisconsin Ave., Chevy Chase, Maryland.
Leading the tour will be weekend anchor Sandy Kozel, who has been with the station since August 2017. She’s also a long-time SPJ member and member of the DC Pro Chapter. She may be familiar to those in the Washington region from her work as an anchor and correspondent for the Associated Press News Network for many years prior to joining WTOP.
Following the tour, Kozel will moderate a panel discussion about local news and WTOP’s role in disseminating it, featuring several of her on-air colleagues, beginning at 7 p.m. in WTOP’ s Think Tank area. Topics will include: WTOP’s news philosophy, how the station covers the news, the balance between local/national news coverage, and the issue of impartiality.
Panelists will include:
- Julia Ziegler, the newly appointed director of news and programming
- Shawn Anderson, the afternoon drive-time anchor from 2 to 7 p.m.
- Megan Cloherty, investigative report and award-winning journalist who is also co-creator and host of the podcast, “22 House: An American Nightmare”
- Brian Oliger, technology manager
- David Dildine, traffic reporter. Attendees will be able to listen to him doing traffic reports as they head to the station.
There will be time for questions from the audience, too.
Light refreshments will be available.
You must register in advance so that your name is on the list for the security desk check-in. You may register using Eventbrite here.
DIRECTIONS:
Access the station via the Friendship Heights Metro stop on the Red Line.
WTOP first went on the air in 1926, and then adopted its current call letters in 1943. In 1969, it launched its current all-news format, emphasizing local news, traffic and weather on the “8’s”, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Its platforms include news coverage online, on its website (WTOP.com) and through apps and social media links.