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February 14, 2013; Washington D.C.
Contact: Washington Foreign Press Center Media Relations Officer Stephanie Kuck
Telephone: 202-504-6354; email: KuckSR2@state.gov
The Washington Foreign Press Center organized a reporting tour for foreign journalists on February 14 to compare commercial and public news radio stations in the U.S. The tour visited WTOP and WAMU, two local Washington D.C. news radio stations. WTOP generates more advertising revenue than any other station in the country, even though Washington D.C. is not the largest market.
The tour allowed journalists to learn about how these stations faced the challenges issues such as: sustainability and audience reach in the internet age; how content is programmed (the typical news item at both WTOP and WAMU run about 35 seconds while WAMU offers in-depth feature stories that can run up to eight minutes); and how they choose content. Participants commented that the visits were very useful for them, by providing more context for how the news media works in the U.S. but also in comparing their own practices with those of these successful stations.
