The Washington Post, which I read daily and blog about occasionally, just trimmed its newsroom with an aggressive buyout package. All week, familiar bylines have been signing off with farewell columns. On Sunday, it was radio critic and beat reporter Marc Fisher, who penned his final “The Listener” column. Back when my title was “press officer,” I read Marc’s column religiously. Even after I taught myself these new Internet tricks, I still kept up with his work.

Time was, Americans heard stories about nature protection and pollution control on the radio while commuting and running errands. As recently as 2001, they described it as one of their top five sources of environmental information.

Not so much anymore. In his signoff column, Fisher notes that many of those drivers today are listening to their iPods, satellite radio, HD radio, and talking on their phones. And radio advertisers have noticed. They’ve dialed back their spending, with the result that:

With the strong exception of public radio and a handful of all-news local stations… radio has largely gotten out of the news business — too expensive.”

But Fisher also notes that Americans are still listening to something as they go about their days. Those of you who are active in urban areas, where your neighbors spend a lot of time stuck in traffic and on subways, may find it worthwhile to explore traditional radio’s descendents: podcasts, text messages, and websites formatted to look good on the tiny screens of mobile phones.

But here’s the catch with that: the responsibilty for reaching your neighbors on the go is shifting to you. There are ever fewer radio journalists around to do the job for you, or to translate your shoptalk for the wider world. So learn some new tricks, and use those words that work, people!

And for you, Marc Fisher, thanks for years of great reading. Good luck with your new ventures.