Staff and volunteers of The WHRO Voice have been hard at work expanding their offerings for the blind and vision impaired members of our community. As they gear up for the busy fall and winter season, we wanted to take a moment and celebrate their achievements over the last couple of years.

Expanded Local News

whro voice

Among its many broadcast services, WHRO Public Media has been providing radio reading programs for the blind and visually impaired for more than 40 years with an emphasis on connecting listeners with their local newspapers. As WHRO has expanded its coverage of local news, so has The WHRO Voice by adding more community newspaper readings from additional weekly or bi-weekly editions in its broadcast area. As a result, our programming now includes virtually every major daily and weekly newspaper in southeastern Virginia.

Publications include:

  • The Virginian Pilot
  • Daily Press
  • Virginia Gazette
  • Eastern Shore Post
  • Suffolk News Herald
  • Tidewater News
  • The Flagship (military publication)

Also included are special programs such as The Voice’s first weekly audio news magazine (WHRO News Week)--which includes radio news reports produced by WHRO journalists along with news stories by other reporters from public radio stations across Virginia--and the first Spanish-speaking program, the Tidewater Hispanic News. Each week, The Voice also broadcasts information from the ads and circulars from area supermarkets.

Community Support

The Voice recently garnered the support of Virginia Eye Consultants which signed on as the service’s newest underwriter. It also received acknowledgment from Rick Mitchell, the new commissioner of the Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired (DBVI), in one of his reports submitted to the department in Richmond.

“It is exciting to read about all of the wonderful work WHRO is doing in the Tidewater area,” Mitchell said. “I know it is through the WHRO team’s efforts that many individuals with visual impairments are able to access information that they would not be able to normally.”

DBVI provides major funding for The Voice through an annual contract with WHRO.

“We are indebted to our wonderful volunteer readers for keeping The Voice on the air during the pandemic and for their continued dedication as we return to our expanded weekly schedule,” said James Holzer who coordinates the programs and volunteer staff for the streaming radio service. “In addition to those who are blind or have serious eye conditions, individuals with low vision and who have difficulty reading small print may be qualified to receive a free device allowing them to listen to The WHRO Voice,” said Holzer.

You can find a full schedule of The Voice’s programs here.

Listen to programs in real time by going to whro.org/voice.