Ask The Post

This Week: Tina Gulland , director of television and radio projects, takes your questions and comments about Washington Post Radio. WTWP, which launched in late March, features news and analysis, in-depth coverage from Post reporters and interviews with newsmakers in its daily programming. Want to know what Washington Post radio is planning for the future? Which shows are popular with listeners? Just Ask the Post.

The transcript follows.

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Burtonsville, Md.: I've been listening since your inception and for the most part my reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. That said, I can't tell you how annoying it has been to tune in to 1500 AM expecting to get news and enlightened conversation only to find the Nationals baseball broadcast. On top of this, I read that WTWP plans to add even more sports broadcasting in the coming months. Say it ain't so. You've got a good thing going and a niche unto yourself. Why must you compromise your news value with these interminable sporting event broadcasts? Let WTEM handle the sports unless you want to see a mass exodus of potentially loyal listeners fleeing back to NPR and their other favorite informational outlets. Thanks for listening to me vent.

Tina Gulland: Delighted to know that you're tuning in and hope you'll continue to do so. We've just gotten off the ground with Washington Post Radio. We're introducing a group of terrific reporters to the community they're tied to in a special way. And we hope we'll be developing that link with readers and listeners in the months to come. Sorry you're not a sports fan. We're excited that Washington Post Radio can feature all sorts of long form programming..from live presidential news conferences to Nats games. We find many of our listeners like that mix. Hope you'll stick with us for the parts of the programming you do enjoy.

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Bethesda, Md.: Ms. Gulland: Thank you for taking my question. I enjoy listening to the station. Do you think it may move to satellite? I can have trouble with reception from time to time.

Tina Gulland: Glad you're listening and sorry about the reception issue you face from time to time. I've got 1500 am and 107.7 fm on auto so I flip from one to the other if one fades and find it works well. As for satellite, who knows what the future may bring!

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Washington, D.C.: Good morning, I listen to the programming in the morning (I think Mike is great, love Jessica and Roxanne!) and during the day at work. My only suggestion is to add even more stories that deal with pop culture. Sometimes the stories can feel a little heavy and I start to long for more fun. A new fan!

Tina Gulland: I agree, love Jess and Rox too and think they have a special rapport with Mike Moss, great fun. We will be adding more pop culture but we'll also keep delivering what we think our listeners also crave : interesting, smart entertaining story telling and analysis about the big issues of the day

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Washington, D.C.: Is the newspaper's partnership with radio broadcasting simply testing the waters for more broadcast ventures?

Tina Gulland: Washington Post Radio is way too demanding an undertaking to be just " testing the waters". We're serious about making this local radio station essential listening here in Washington. If future broadcast ventures flow from that, great. But, for now, we want to you to tune in and keep tuning in so that's what we're working on everyday.

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Arlington, Va.: Some of us out here are Style Invitational fanatics. In a town filled with talk about serious issues, I like the nonsensical, irreverent, sarcastic, humor in that column. Is there any way you could put the Invitational on the air once in a while? Maybe have the Empress read some entries? Maybe even some of the stuff that wasn't quite "right" for the paper? I heard her BBC interview and it was great.

How about Gene Weingarten reading the comics, with asides, some Sunday morning?

Tina Gulland: Love the Empress and well remember her BBC interview. Have chatted with Gene Weingarten about his role on radio, we have a tentative plan but he's crazy busy at the moment, writing a book with Dave Barry and more so it'll be awhile but stay tuned.

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Washington, D.C.: Have any other national newspapers (The NY Times, Wall Street Journal) started similar radio stations?

Tina Gulland: As far as we know the Washington Post is the first to do this kind of radio programming.

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Tysons Corner, Va.: The morning show is problematic for those of us who subscribe to, and actually read the Post each morning. The radio program adds nothing, it seems, to what's already in the paper. If you've read the paper, the radio segments are simple regurgitation. Later in the day, the station gets more interesting. I enjoy Litzinger mid-days, especially.

Tina Gulland: Glad you're reading the Post every morning and we strive to add value to that experience on Washington Post Radio. Glad you like Sam, he is a special treat and surprises us everyday. Did you hear his show yesterday on the best "conservative" rock and roll hits? with an editor from the National Review and Jabari Asim of the Post. A riot, also a lot of great music.

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Severna Park, Md.: Hi - thank you for taking my question. I have really enjoyed listening to Post radio and have been waiting for forum where I could ask these questions! It was pleasing, but a little surprising, to find out that many of the guests on Post radio are actually writers for the paper. Is working on radio now a requirement of their jobs? Are they paid extra for this? Are they as eager to do this as they seem? Just curious...

Tina Gulland: Many of the guests on Washington Post radio are indeed Post writers and editors. Participation is voluntary. Some fees are paid for work outside the journalist's work day or duties. The newsroom reaction has been great, real enthusiasm so we're pleased.

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Washington, D.C.: Are you still involved with Inside Washington -- I remember you used to "guest host" from time to time.

Tina Gulland: Actually, I produced Inside Washington with Gordon Peterson for years and loved it. But with the debut of Washington Post Radio, I realized I just couldn't work round the clock so I had to give it up. But still love chats with Gordo and the gang..even off TV.

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Dupont Circle, Washington, D.C.: Does Washington Post Radio have a gossip and events portion. I like to know what's going on around DC and it would be great to hear some of those things on the radio. Our celebrities around her are, of course, the politicians we love to hate!

Tina Gulland: You bet, the Reliable Source. Roxanne Roberts in the morning with Mike Moss and Amy Argetsinger in the afternoon with Bob Kur. Perfect fill on Wash " gossip" and celeb sightings.

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Nats Fan: I couldn't disagree more with the first post. It's a good combination (given that DC sports touches a lot of local issues and politics too), and if you need a hard news fix you can always check WTOP. I'd like to see a little more sports programming -- I know some of the reporters come on from time to time, but a regularly scheduled roundtable or week-in-review kind of thing would be welcome too.

Tina Gulland: Our sports guys are one of our mainstays, and big draws. And their boss: Emilio Garcia Ruiz, the Assistant Managing Editor for Sports is on the air every morning with Mike Moss at 6:50. They have a blast. Barry Svrluga is on the air all the time re: The Nats. We've got Tom Boswell, Mike Wilbon, Mike Wise, Gene Wang....we had Andy Beyer on the horses, Liz Clarke on everything from hard news stories ( Duke Lacrosse) to more sports stories. Really dazzling. also the sports guys do a roundtable at 1 p.m. Fridays.

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Washington, D.C.: What are the most popular shows and when do listeners tune in the most?

Tina Gulland: For news/talk radio, morning drive ( 5:30am -10 am) and afternoon drive ( 3pm -7pm) are the biggest draws, just because so many of us are trapped in our cars looking for good entertaining programming. But interestingly , with our programming, we'll have strengths in other dayparts. Our Politics hour on Thursday at 1 p.m. or Book World on Wednesday at 1 p.m. have followings. We're doing programs on Race : ( Jabari Asim Tuesday at noon), on Religion ( Alan Cooperman Monday at 10am, our Polling guys, Rich Morin and Claudia Deane do great shows on public opinion. Then, there's Sally Squires who has a big audience with her Lean Plate club online column...and that's just a start. Was just listening to Donna Britt on the air at 10 this morning, a really interesting, provocative discussion about women, their images, what's real, what's not. Just can't think where else you can get the range of talented , bright people conversing with you.

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Vienna, Va.: Thanks for returning David Burd to a morning-show slot. I'd missed the guy while reading my Saturday-morning paper. He's a great asset.

Is there anything about Burd's Post program that differs from his earlier weekend-morning stint at another AM station?

Tina Gulland: David Burd is a total wild man, hilarious and really lovely.

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Baltimore, Md.: Re: Nats broadcast

I actually really like it that The WashPost Radio is broadcasting the Nats games. Living in Baltimore, the 1500 signal is stronger than the 104.1 signal so I am able to listen to the games this year (unlike last). Thanks!

Tina Gulland: Great, we love Baltimore listeners to Washington Post Radio , hope you get an arbitron diary.

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Washington, D.C.: Really love Hillary and Friends, but Mike Moss is hard to listen to. Any thought of moving Hillary or someone else to the morning show?

Tina Gulland: The fun is that each of our hosts have their own fans. We like the lineup we've got and hope you'll keep tuning in to give us a chance to persuade you we're right.

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Silver Spring, Md.: What is Mike Moss's background?

Tina Gulland: Mike Moss is a seasoned network anchor/reporter. He's had wonderful experience in radio, in the field covering stories and in the anchor booth, for NBC Network, also a bunch of major market radio stations including, of course, WTOP here in Washington where he took the station to Number 1.

We like that starpower.

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Halifax, Nova Scotia: I am a former Washingtonian and would LOVE to listen - Is there an Internet link to WTWP?

Thanks!

Tina Gulland: Sure, washingtonpostradio is streamed live on washingtonpost.com, Just log on and tune in.

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washingtonpost.com: Washington Post Radio

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Fairfax, Va.: I listen to the station and enjoy the difference from WTOP. Are there ever any stories on restaurants or just food related events? (I love to eat out and go to food festivals)

Tina Gulland: Hey, I wouldn't go to a restaurant without checking with Tom Sietsema and neither should you. Tom's on Thursday mornings at 7:50am, Wednesday evenings at 5:20 pm . Also, for those of you who cook, I try to avoid it, but for those of you who do: Candy Sagon and Bonnie Benwick give crucial advice everyday at 11:50 am. Kim O'Donnel does a major production at 2:40 pm on Fridays. In fact , got a great email from a grateful listener last Friday. He was trapped in Memorial Day traffic and instead of steaming , he listened to Kim cooking outside with Sam, stayed in a perfect frame of mind and had a dinner menu by the time he go to the beach .

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Grifton, N.C.: Hi Ms. Gulland, I used to see Washington Post reporters pretty often on MSNBC (not the Olbermann show, but daytime broadcasts). Is it my imagination, or have they disappeared? And if so, why?

Tina Gulland: Nope, we're there. Enjoy our relationship with NBC and MSNBC. MS is doing a few more taped segments during the day, and that may be what you're seeing. As you mentioned, some of our reporters are featured frequently on Olbermann..Dana Milbank, of course, who is beyond funny.

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Washington, D.C.: The new format is great. The drive home seems to pass much faster with Bob Kur than it did with Carson & Chili over at Mix 107.3. I read that Bob Kur went to Ithaca College. Was he there at the same time as the late NBC anchor Jessica Savitch?

Tina Gulland: Bob was at NBC for decades so I bet he was there when Jessica was covering the hill and anchoring. It is really a joy to have Kur, with his experience, knowledge, warmth, sense of humor...we're really fortunate.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Your writeup says you are also involved in TV projects; does that include TV news programs? If so, I want to tell you I hate how on channel 9 they hold up The Post to explain a story. That's advertising and I don't want that in a news program.

Tina Gulland: The Washington Post has a number of broadcast and cable alliances including one with NBC, MSNBC, and NBC4. Don't really have one with Channel 9, though I have lots of good friends there: folks I've worked with in the past and miss. Glad they're holding up the Post, we love free advertising.

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Arlington, Va.: Tina: I often listen to Post radio while doing errands and schlepping kids--mostly Hillary Howard. I think some of her segments go on too long and some seem too short. And I wish there was more humor. Not everything about women is serious!

Tina Gulland: You're right and that goes for all parts of Washington Post Radio: some segments are too short, some to long, some too hot, some too...you get the point. We've just gotten this baby on the air, there's gobs of great stuff and many many talented voices and we have plenty of room to grow and improve.

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Washington, D.C.: I love WTWP! How did you woo folks like Sam Litzinger and Mark Plotkin to the station?

Tina Gulland: the cool thing is The Washington Post has such a great name, reputation and bond with this community and we didn't have to twist arms : Sam and Mark jumped aboard willingly.

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Washington, D.C.: If WP Radio succeeds here, and then in other cities (which in many ways would be good because your programming is great), won't there be some risk of greater dominance of the news by already influential media organizations?

Tina Gulland: golly , in a media world in which I feel we have nothing but ever-expanding choices, I'm not worried about dominance, I just want lot of listeners.

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Olney, Md.: Congratulations on the new radio broadcast. It strikes me that this is an opportunity to provide more programming that we don't hear on the air -- about our area nonprofits and the work they are doing for example, perhaps more coverage on things like the arts -- which often get limited opportunities in the print edition because of space...Do you anticipate that you will be providing coverage that goes beyond what your print publication can do?

Tina Gulland: Lovely suggestion and yes, we aim to do programming not heard on other stations, like the programs I mentioned that we're doing on Race and Religion, among others.

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Washington, D.C.: Do you think discussing stories after writing them affects Post journalists' integrity?

Tina Gulland: I don't. Why would it?

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Reston, Va.: Do you have any plans for more interactive programming, a sort of radio call-in version of the online chats? The Post's online programming really is the strongest part of the paper!

Tina Gulland: I agree, and in some senses some of our best features: like Tom Sietsema's conversations on air are radio versions of the wonderful onlines Tom does. We work very closely with our smart colleagues at washingtonpost.com and brainstorm about radio versions of live onlines.

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washingtonpost.com: Thank you all for joining us today.

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