Harvey Community Radio brings Harvey-Waroona Reporter to wider audience with radio for the print handicapped

When most people get their news from the Harvey-Waroona Reporter, it is either through the print edition or online.

But there are people in the Harvey community who would not be able to stay up to date on news in their town without the help of volunteers.

Twice a week, stories from the Harvey-Waroona Reporter get read on the airwaves during the radio for the print handicapped program on Harvey Community Radio.

Chair David Marshall described the service as a important program for the community.

“I think the vision of radio for the print handicapped is a nation where print disability is not a barrier to participation,” he said.

“What we all take for granted as getting our local paper on a Tuesday morning in our driveway, opening it up and reading all the stories about things that are happening locally, things that are relevant to us, a lot of people don’t have that opportunity.”

The radio for the print handicapped program is targeted at those who might not be able to read the paper, including those with vision impairment or those who can speak English but cannot read it.

Each program sees a volunteer select and read several stories from the week’s paper, which are then put together by station manager Ian Taylor before hitting the airwaves.

The articles chosen have to be read as printed, with announcers being required to take care with voice inflections to ensure there is no bias in their reading.

Mr Marshall said the station had received “great feedback” about the program, which is made possible by grant funding provided by the Federal Government through the Community Broadcasting Foundation.

“Without that funding, it makes it very difficult to do these programs,” he said.

“It’s a very practical way of using community with some funding from government to assist someone with a print disability to not have a barrier to participation.”

The program can be heard on 96.5FM on Thursdays at 7.10am and on Fridays at 12pm.