To say that someone has “a voice for print” is to say that the voice is so bad that it shouldn’t be on radio or television. “A voice for print” has been cited in print since at least 1991.
 
The put-down “a voice for print” often is combined with another one—“a face for radio.”
 
 
30 October 1991, Buffalo (NY) News, “Bentley grades media, teammates, fans on a different curve” by Ray Bentley:
I’ve also heard Larry doing radio commentary and I can honestly say he has a great voice for print.
 
New York (NY) Times
COPING; Face Time at the Fontainebleau of Youth
By ROBERT LIPSYTE
Published: November 23, 1997
(...)
I am no looker. Even when I was on TV, my producers whispered—into open control room mikes—that I had a face for radio and a voice for print.
 
Google Groups: alt.support.childfree
Jim
8/24/98
(...)
Jim - with a face for radio, and a voice for print.
   
The Tufts Daily (Tufts University)
Cole Liberator | Hot Peas and Butter
TU-lip
By Cole Liberator
Published: Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Updated: Sunday, August 17, 2008 14:08
(...)
Lupica was known as one of the premier sportswriters in the U.S. before he made the unfortunate mistake of opening his mouth on ESPN’s “The Sports Reporters.” You know the old saying that some people have a face for radio? Well, let’s just say Lupica has a voice for print.
   
Pittsburgh (PA) Post-Gazette
Screenwriter’s comedy makes it to DVD
By Kate Luce Angell
September 25, 2008 12:00 am
(...)
At Hofstra University, he took a short detour into sports broadcasting.
 
“You know the saying, ‘You’ve got a face for radio?’ Well, they told me I had a voice for print,” Mr. Solomon said.
 
The Daily Beast
The Only Sportscaster That Mattered: New Biography of Howard Cosell
By Robert Lipsyte
Nov 20, 2011 3:00 PM EST
Howard Cosell once said to me, “Bobbin, you have a face for radio and a voice for print.” It was inspirational!
 
Twitter
tommy tomlinson
‏@tommytomlinson
Face for radio, voice for print, but nice folks at @SECPressPass put me on camera to talk about the Arkansas disaster. http://secpresspass.com/home-page/can-john-l-smith-recover/ …
12:09 PM - 13 Sep 12