For years, ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp listeners have been used to hearing our sports reports at :15 and :45, and money/business news at :25 and :55 past each hour.

Starting next Monday, our sports reports will begin airing at :25 and :55, and our money/business reports will move to :10 and :40 past each hour.

We will also be reducing the number of commercial breaks listeners hear each hour and increasing the amount of news we deliver at the same time.

These changes allow us to provide our listeners with longer, uninterrupted news segments, which we believe offer a better listening experience overall.

Our traffic and weather reports will remain “on the 8s.” No changes there.

In addition to making these logistical changes, we’ve also made a commitment as a newsroom to delivering a more balanced diet of news and compelling stories to our listeners each day.

What do I mean by that?

ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp will always be the place you can turn to when news is breaking, but we realize news consumers want more than that — not just from ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp but from the news industry as a whole. So, it is our commitment to balance out those serious news stories we deliver each day with news about the good things going on in the D.C. region, too. Stories that make you smile; stories that inspire hope; and stories that make you laugh or are just cool. We’re also committed to providing you with stories that can help you, your kids, your finances and your health, too.

Every time you listen, we want you to walk away with something you want to share with your friends, family or colleagues.

Ultimately, our goal with these changes is to do a better job for you. We appreciate those of you who have been loyal listeners for years and those of you who have only found us more recently. We hope these changes might even inspire some of you to tell others about the great work we’re doing on a daily basis.

We talk internally at ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp about treating listeners like members of our family. To me, part of that is being transparent and upfront, which shows a level of respect. That is why we wanted to let you know about the sports and money news changes before they hit the air next week. My hope is that even if you don’t agree with them, you appreciate the heads-up and, in time, you come to like the benefits.

I have worked for this news organization for the past 20 years and have always appreciated the candid feedback we get from listeners. It really does help us serve you better. Please feel free to email me at any time.

Ìý— Julia Ziegler, Director of News and Programming, ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp

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The changes you are seeing on the site are the result of multiple focus groups and research studies with people just like you. People who told us they liked the local news content we had to offer, but that it wasn’t organized well. People who told us they wanted a more visually-appealing presentation of the top news stories of the day regardless of platform. And people who told us they wanted choice and personalization.

We took that advice to heart, and we hope you’ll agree that the changes we’ve made have addressed these issues and will create a better user experience overall.

In addition to cosmetic updates, we’ve also added new features and functionality to the site.

For example, we’ve made it very easy for readers to view the latest local news headlines from across the region, as well as look at news specific to Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., by simply clicking on the drop-down menu in Local News.

One of the biggest requests we’ve received over the years is to display the local temperature in the ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp Nav Bar. Consider it done!

We’re also excited to announce integration with our app. Anyone who has signed up for an account in the ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp app, can now access his account information directly through our website. When logged into your account, you also have access to all breaking news, traffic and weather alerts.

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Washington’s Top News gets a top-notch new home

It’s the start of a new age for ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp, which bid adieu to its old Idaho Avenue location for a shiny, space-age pasture just up the street in Maryland. See photos and video of the Wisconsin Avenue newsroom.

Some things have not changed. The is in the same easy-to-access location it has always been right in our nav bar. However, now, we’ve made it easier for you to access some of our other audio offerings like podcasts.

Some additional features will continue to roll out over the next several months, including updates to the ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp traffic page and traffic map. If you don’t currently use the ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp traffic page in your daily commute, we urge you to check it out on our website or app.

The traffic page includes all of the latest confirmed accidents and incidents straight from the men and women in the ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp Traffic Center, including information on lane closures and other pertinent details that will help you get where you are going faster. You can sign up for our Traffic Alerts and get the latest on-demand traffic reports.

These are just some of the highlights. We invite you to explore the updated site on your preferred devices (desktop, mobile, tablet) and let us know your thoughts. You can email me directly at jziegler@wtop.com.

Julia Ziegler
Digital News Director

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As a ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp listener and reader, you’re aware that we’ve been working hard for the past several years to stay ahead of rapid changes in the radio and technology landscape.

We’d like to learn more about your media habits and your opinions about the media you use. Our goal is to continue to provide great content on the platforms and devices you use most often, so we’re inviting you to share your opinions about technology in our annual survey.

We’d like to know how you use the radio, along with social media, smartphones, tablets, streaming and the web to stay connected to entertainment, news, and updates from ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp and other sources. Whether you use all these things or not, we really need your opinion.

Your responses will be kept completely confidential, and we will never share your personal information with anyone. We’ll only use the information you provide to enhance our service.

This survey may take you as long as 15-20 minutes to complete, but you can stop, save your work, and resume at any time. Because of the many changes in technology, it covers a lot of ground. We hope you have the time to help us out and let us know your opinions.

When you’re ready to take the survey, just click the link below to participate. We hope you’ll find it to be an interesting way to reflect on your own changing habits as a ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp fan and radio listener.

Thanks in advance for your time and for your support of ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp.

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This decision was not made lightly.

As stated in our , our goal with the comment boards has always been to foster a space for civil dialogue on the many issues we cover daily. ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp values free speech and our role in protecting the First Amendment.

However, over the past year, the discourse on our comment boards has devolved into sometimes hateful and racist dialogue, which is a direct violation of that policy and inconsistent with ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp’s journalistic standards and principles.

Monitoring the comment boards to ensure our policies were respected and followed began taking an increasing amount of time away from our primary mission of reporting the news.

To the many ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp.com readers who engaged in respectful conversation on our website—we regret that the acts of some have brought us to this point.

ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp remains committed to offering alternative platforms for the discussion of important public matters.

ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp has robust and communities, and we encourage our readers and listeners to engage with each other and members of the ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp staff in these forums. Readers can also submit comments and questions via our . These submissions are read ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp news managers on a daily basis.

While we understand the decision to remove comments from our website will not be welcome by all, we hope you understand and respect our reasons.

Questions or comments about our change in policy can be to ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵapp.

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