WKAR’s Radio Reading Service (RRS) is celebrating 50 years of operations. The community service, which helps people with visual impairments, hosts volunteers who read newspapers, books and even grocery ads for people with visual or cognitive impairments.
The program was originally launched on October 1, 1973 as the “Radio Talking Book” by legendary Radio Reader voice, Dick Estelle. Estelle passed away in 2016, two months after retiring from WKAR, where he spent 52 years.
Brad Walker, head of operations at WKAR, also runs the reading service which serves 500 subscribers with the help of some 50 volunteers.
Walker said the reading service has made access to news for people living with disabilities much easier, while giving them a warm voice to listen to throughout the day.
“It makes a big difference for people who are blind and visually impaired, because when I hear from different listeners, the common denominator with all of them is that it feels like there is a friend, that the radio provides companionship to them,” Walker said.
Among the myriad reading material that gets narrated on air, the service includes daily readings of The Detroit News, Lansing State Journal and The Detroit Free Press. Walker typically auditions volunteers by having them read three articles aloud.
In a video interview for WKAR, Roberta McCall, a Radio Reading Service Listener, said she felt better informed using the program. “It provides information that has a focus that is important to people who are blind or visually impaired.”
The RSS does not use AI to voice reading material, which brings humanity to the narration.
“It’s like someone sitting at the kitchen table, reading the paper,” explained McCall. Sometimes the volunteers make slight mistakes while reading, which Walker describes as “sometimes a good thing because [listeners] know everybody’s human.”
Walker wants other news outlets to follow suit, widening access to news for people who would otherwise not be able to. Currently, the WKAR RSS signal spans a 60-mile radius.
“Our signal goes only so far. We can get our programs online, which is great,” Walker said. “But there's nothing north of Ithaca, Michigan, there isn't anything that I'm aware of that's in the Upper or in the northern Lower Peninsula, for people who are blind and visually impaired.”
Walker said as the years go by, technology will evolve and information will become more accessible but that there is still a need for this service.
“I hope it stays for a long time,” he said. “For the next 50.”