As journalists, we don’t usually make ourselves the feature of a story, but today, WTOP is shining a spotlight on one of our colleagues, Neal Augenstein, who has been selected as one of Washingtonian Magazine’s “Washingtonians of the Year.”
Augenstein, and nine other locals, are being honored for making the region a better place.
“I take the responsibility of being a reporter for WTOP pretty seriously,” Augenstein said. “I’m indebted to the people who’ve sort of gone along for the ride and have been willing to trust me after all of these years.”
Augenstein, with his distinctive accent and booming voice, has been a fixture on WTOP’s airwaves for nearly 30 years. A general assignment reporter, he’s covered hard-hitting stories across the D.C. region and has won journalism awards for his work.
But, his path to your airwaves wasn’t always assured.
“I spent the first 10 years of my radio career being told, ‘You’re a good journalist, but you don’t belong on the air,’” he said.
Augenstein said once he got to WTOP, the station had him work with a voice coach to tame his New York accent (he was raised in Connecticut, but his parents are from the Bronx).
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“There are still some words that I can’t say,” he said. “The word ‘coleslaw’ requires me to say ‘L’ and then ‘S’ right after that.”
You might be surprised to hear that he also struggles with his signature sign off: “’Neal Augenstein, WTOP News.’ … I bite my tongue every fifth time that I say that, because ‘W’ is a really hard thing for me to say,” he said.
Augenstein said that in recent years, getting through a lung cancer diagnosis has only deepened his connection to the audience.
“When I was diagnosed with cancer, I decided that I would share my story. What I didn’t realize was that by sharing my story, I heard back from so many people, and they shared their stories of survival and people that they know and love who’ve been having cancer treatment for years and are doing well. I was getting strength from their stories,” he said.
Augenstein’s cancer has been at NED (No Evidence of Disease) status since 2023.