On Feb. 18, WTOP hosted the Washington, D.C., Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalist for a tour of its new facilities and a discussion about local news in the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia media market. Following is a report about that event based on a story by a University of Maryland graduate student who was assigned to cover it for a class. At the end of the report, you’ll find a video graciously supplied by WTOP of the panel discussion, during which the radio station’s leadership did a deep dive into reporting when your audience is hungry for news that impacts their commutes and everyday life in a region that is more known for generating national news.
By Laina S. Miller
Chevy Chase, Maryland — News radio station WTOP and SPJ DC Pro Chapter co-organized an evening program that included a tour of WTOP’s new headquarters in Chevy Chase on Tuesday, Feb. 18, concluding the event with a panel discussion about the importance of local news.
The tour around WTOP’s state-of-the-art newsroom was led by Sandy Kozel, a former Associated Press correspondent, a member of the SPJ DC Pro Chapter and a weekend anchor for WTOP. She also organized the panel discussion that followed.
Kozel reminded attendees that WTOP moved to these new headquarters almost precisely a year earlier, and said that their new accommodations have only improved their work.
Brian Oliger, WTOP’s technical operations manager, said that they describe WTOP’s new headquarters as state-of-the-art because it was constructed and designed “with the latest technology available when the studio was built.” He explained that, at their old headquarters, “every button and dial needed its own wire,” leading to a newsroom built to accommodate that need.
Now, Oliger said, “modern broadcasting is primarily IP-based. That is, computer-based.” An entire panel of buttons and dials requires only two wires: one for the power and one for the computer connection.
As a result of this change in needs, the new headquarters was designed primarily for the needs of the editors, reporters and workers in the newsroom, with barely a wire in sight.
During the tour through WTOP’s newsroom, Kozel led guests through the sports section, nicknamed “the toy division” for its wall of sports figurines, past the central hub, which is ringed with television screens and contains WTOP’s main editors, and through the traffic and weather studio, where the group was introduced to Dave Dildine, one of WTOP’s traffic reporters.
Dildine there gave a brief overview of his job as a traffic reporter, and then, when the minute turned to WTOP’s “Traffic and Weather, on the 8s,” he gave his up-tempo traffic report, to both his in-room audience and the numerous drivers listening to 103.5 FM on their commutes from work.
“I’m really proud of the team we have,” Dildine said, later that evening during the panel discussion. “We are more aware of the traffic situation out there than anyone. … It’s changing minute by minute, second by second. … We’re 24/7, 365 — 366, this year.”
We have something unique to this region – with the traffic now … we pride ourselves on knowing about accident situations even before police arrive on the scene.
— Dave Dildine
After the tour, Kozel moderated a panel of WTOP employees on the subject of local news and WTOP’s place in local news. Opening remarks were made by DC Pro Chapter President Randy Showstack, who thanked WTOP and Kozel for hosting the group in the “Think Tank,” a room specifically designed for multimedia presentations and discussion panels.
On the panel were Dildine and Oliger, as well as Julia Ziegler, director of news and programming; Shawn Anderson, one of the afternoon news anchors; and Megan Cloherty, an investigative journalist and the co-creator and host of the “22 Hours: An American Nightmare” podcast.
The panel focused on all-news station WTOP’s local news reporting, why local news reporting is important, and what life as a WTOP employee is like.
“Our mission when we come to work every day is to serve the community,” Ziegler said emphatically. “Our goal at any given time is to deliver the biggest story of the day.”
Ziegler described the “big morning meeting” held every day to discuss assignments and coverage – “but this is organic and it changes throughout the day,” she said.
Anderson remarked that “it’s quite the squirrel ride every day,” saying that “in a perfect world it all gets slotted into the pre-arranged time slots – but it rarely happens that way.”
Oliger said there are two versions of every story each day. The WTOP.com website is a good source of the information broadcast on the radio, and there are more stories posted there, as well as other information.
It’s tiring but it’s fulfilling, because we know we are filling a role in the community.
— Dave Dildine
Ziegler commented that what Dildine said about filling a role about traffic in the region “is true for everything we do – not just traffic, but also news. … It’s valuable to be able to tell the community what is going on minute by minute.”
A look at numbers
100 people in the newsroom, about 200 employees overall
News distribution on daily basis:
- 50% local
- 30% national
- 20% international
When asked if WTOP’s lack of television presence was a disadvantage, Ziegler replied: “I think audio is such a personal medium, and so we connect with people. … That’s super special.”
Cloherty added, from her perspective as an investigative journalist, “I think we have an advantage, in this day and age, because of immediacy. … The immediacy of audio can’t be beat.”
When asked by an audience member how much money WTOP makes, Ziegler, the news director, said “there is so much” the station can do with advertising across the digital landscape that hasn’t even been tapped yet.
Laina S. Miller’s original reporting was supplemented by DC Pro Chapter members’ reporting, and her report was edited for clarity and style.
Video of panel discussion: