There won’t be any hand-wringing or head-scratching over why the Washington Post’s foray into radio failed. Today’s Post article on the issue pretty much sums it up as well as anyone could hope to: “[Post Radio] was not able to draw even 1 percent of listeners during its first year.” Ouch.

The Washingtonian’s Harry Jaffe wrote earlier this month of the project’s coming demise, and today provides more insight as to why the whole venture — launched in conjunction with Bonneville International Corp., which owns WTOP and other stations — failed. He writes:

How did the paper blow its chance to become a radio power in the Washington region?

The simple answer, according to reporters and radio executives, is that the Post never devoted time, money, and attention to the task of turning news reporters into radio personalities.

At least one Post journalist asked for pointers on becoming a radio personality, but her request was rebuffed.

The Post’s Marc Fisher has his own take on it, referencing focus group studies on the station’s programming:

The four focus groups were united in their perceptions of Post Radio: Listeners said that after they tuned in to the Post station, which launched with the slogan “There’s always more to the story,” “there wasn’t more to the story,” Mathes said. “People felt the station didn’t deliver on deeper, more insider kind of stuff from the reporters who were on the air.”

Well, if real reporters can’t become radio personalities, maybe bloggers can. If anyone from Bonneville is listening, we promise that Radio DCist will be a hit.