For many, reading the newspaper is a daily ritual, a way to stay informed and connected. For individuals dealing with blindness or disabilities that prevent normal reading, the activity becomes impossible.
“At some point, they were able to read the newspaper and now they can’t. What happens is they lose the opportunity to stay in touch with the community,” said Jim Holzer.
That’s why WHRO has aired “The WHRO Voice” for 37 years. Holzer serves as team leader for the program. Throughout each week, it includes readings of area newspapers the Daily Press and the Virginian Pilot, as well as radio book clubs and supermarket ads.
The station added The Virginia Gazette to its programming with an inaugural broadcast Wednesday.
It’s a personal endeavor for Bert Schmidt, WHRO’s president and CEO, whose father suffered a stroke at age 57 and could no longer lift his hands to hold a newspaper.
“This has been something I’ve wanted to do here for a very long time,” Schmidt said. “It’s just going to bring the community back to these folks.”
Initially, the program will only include the Wednesday edition of the paper. Volunteers record the reading the morning the paper comes out and it airs at 1 p.m. the same day. The initial Gazette segment spans an hour, although there’s flexibility to expand if that’s not enough time to get it all in.
Readings cover much of the paper, including editorials and descriptions of interesting pictures, but exclude ads and comics. Sports coverage concludes the broadcast.
“We read just about everything,” Holzer said. “We read it exactly as it is written.”
Holzer plans to incorporate Gazette story updates at the end of Daily Press readings, which air more frequently Monday through Saturday; he also hopes to add Saturday issues of the Gazette to the mix in the near future.
In the meantime, Holzer is seeking four to eight volunteers to record the readings each week. Nathaniel Brown, a reader for more than four years, recorded Wednesday’s inaugural broadcast.
“I thought it was rather important,” he said. “I thought this was a great way to give back to my community.”
The broadcast signal isn’t picked up by standard radios; instead, those interested can request a specially modified radio from WHRO. A stream of the broadcast is also available online via TuneIn Radio, the station’s website or its app. All options are free.
“The whole focus here is community-oriented,” Holzer said.
Interested?
“The WHRO Voice” reads The Virginia Gazette 1 p.m. Wednesdays. The stream is available online at whro.org/voice and via the WHRO Public Media App, a free download on the Google Play and Apple app stores. To apply for a free, specially modified radio, call 889-9379 or email james.holzer@whro.org.
