Um caso interessante: rádio do Washington Post fecha

Era um dos casos mais interessantes da rádio de palavra nos Estados Unidos, mas revelou-se um fracasso a experiência de trazer os jornalistas do Washington Post para a rádio. Vai fechar.
«WASHINGTON - Washington Post Radio, a station that featured in-depth discussions with The Washington Post’s editors and reporters about the day’s news, is going off the air next month after failing to attract enough listeners during its 17-month run, the newspaper reported Tuesday.
WTWP, which broadcasts in the Washington region on 1500 AM, 820 AM and 107.7 FM, is owned by Salt Lake City-based Bonneville International Corp. Bonneville paid an annual fee to the Post for access to its journalists and for the use of the newspaper’s name. The Post had no direct financial investment in the station. (...) When WTWP debuted in March 2006, the station’s backers said it would be like "NPR on caffeine" - but the station failed to catch on with listeners. During the recent spring ratings period, WTWP finished tied for 18th place in the Washington area, with an average of 1.2 percent of the audience, according to Arbitron (nyse: ARB - news - people ).
While many advertisers were satisfied with the results the station generated, we just did not garner the Arbitron ratings we had hoped for," said Joel Oxley, senior vice president and market manager of Bonneville’s Washington operations.»
fonte: «Washington Post Radio Ending Broadcasts», Associated Press 28/08/07

O comentário de Leslie Stimson: «(...)While an interesting experiment, I’ve got to wonder if the Post reporters received broadcast training, and if they did, what kind, exactly? Some of the “Posties” were good on the air while others sounded uncomfortable. Writing for the “eye” vs. for the “ear” — and being comfortable with the needs of each medium — is different. (...) I’m not saying these were the things going on at “WAPO,” but there’s a lesson in both examples: Radio and print are different in both reporting and presentation. It takes time for someone comfortable working in one medium to achieve that same comfort level and professional expertise in the other. Who knows? Maybe with the proper training and unending financial resources, the idea could have worked. But the outcome of the Post/Bonneville experiment is a cautionary lesson for any “old media” types who are dreaming about such alliances to help them fight more effectively in the “new media” world.» fonte: «Death of ‘WAPO’ Points to Differences Between Radio, Print», Leslie Stimson, 5/09/07