About WTIP

WTIP is the first and only community radio station broadcasting on the North Shore of Lake Superior. Here, visitors and residents spread out over 1500 square miles of woods and waters come together through WTIP, a non-profit organization that provides an arena for information-gathering, discussion, and expression.

WTIP was launched by a small group of pioneering volunteers sitting around a kitchen table who believed that community radio in Cook County could play an important role in building a sense of shared community.

Since our inception in April 1998, the need and demand for WTIP’s services has grown...

In the summer of 2009, WTIP partnered with the Northwoods Food Project to create a community garden on site at WTIP. The project was in direct response to community needs, and was funded by the “Engaging Communities on the Economy” grant from the National Center for Media Engagement.
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Tyler has volunteered with WTIP since 2008, hosting Wednesday Night Jazz and Women In Music, and also being an on-air presence at remote broadcasts.  His favorite...
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If you tune in Tuesday evenings to the PM Community Calendar, you'll hear the voice of Greg, who in 2008 started training as co-host of the program.  Greg loves spending time taking...
Tina - new pic Jan 2010.
Tina began volunteering with WTIP in 2008 after attending a volunteer open house.  While she does much behind the scenes (helping with pledge drives, attending various events), she also loves...

The WTIP Board of Directors works to uphold WTIP’s mission at all levels of the station’s operations. The Board of Directors meets at WTIP on the third Thursday of every month at 4 p.m. and all meetings are open to the public. For more information about the board contact Deb Benedict.

Current members:

Ann Possis –  President                  3/2012
Greg Tofte...
The Community Advisory Board meets annually to discuss WTIP programming as well as the station's integration in and service to the larger community.

CAB members are:

Anna Hamilton   
Bill Burkhardt   
Bill Hansen   
Dave Seaton       
Deb Westby   
Jennifer Schulz   
Mike LaVigne   
Sue...
WTIP is being recognized for several features produced by station staff and volunteers in the 2010 Minnesota AP Broadcasters Awards.

WTIP’s Ada Igoe received first place in the writing category for her commentary entitled... See all »
AMPERS
AMPERS, Diverse Radio for Minnesota's Communities, is the second largest public radio network in the state of Minnesota and one of the largest public radio networks of its kind in the United States. Each member station is independently licensed and managed, locally responsive, and community-based. Ampers is comprised of 12 independent public radio stations across our... See all »
Barbara Jean Johnson
Barbara Jean joined WTIP as the news and public affairs director in November of 2006. Her passion for radio took hold at a young age, when she made her first radio documentary as a high school class project using a tape recorder with bad sound! After that she was hooked, and went on to study...
Carah Thomas
Carah joined the WTIP news team as a reporter in the fall of 2009. Carah has a background in photojournalism which includes a student internship with the Miami Herald, freelance work for the Associated Press, and two years as a staff photographer at a large daily newspaper.  Carah has also...
Cathy Quinn
Cathy Quinn has been working and volunteering at WTIP since the station went on the air in 1998. She started off hosting the AM Community Calendar and has worn many hats at the station since then.  Currently she's the music director and host of the station's weekday eclectic music show...
Deb Benedict
Deb Benedict has been WTIP’s executive director since 2001. Under her leadership, the station has grown to over 800 members and now numbers over 70 on-air volunteers and eight staff. All this growth lead Deb to pursue the purchase of a new home for the station, nearly tripling the size of its...
Jana Berka
Jana started at WTIP in November of 2007 as the Development Assistant.  Since then she’s morphed into the Office Administrator (as Deb likes to say…), and continues to amaze some of her co-workers with her knowledge of Excel spreadsheets, and her ability to create last-minute...
Jay Andersen
Jay was born in a log cabin near Springfield Mo. In 18--- wrong bio.
Jay Andersen joined WTIP as a news reporter in June of 2008. He has a long background in news gathering, having previously been editor at two community newspapers. Between editing jobs Andersen worked as a ...

Jeff Nemitz
Jeff Nemitz is WTIP’s engineer extraordinaire. Jeff’s skills and abilities keep WTIP’s signal on the air. When not trouble shooting technical problems, Jeff can be found sailing around Devil Track Lake...
Kelly Schoenfelder
Kelly joined WTIP in April of 2010 as an intern, and then eventually graduated to the position of production assistant after she finished her B.A. in journalism at the University of Minnesota. When she’s not working at the station, she can be found cramming non-fiction, philosophizing,...
Matt Brown
Matthew has been volunteering at WTIP since the early days and is currently the interim music director during the summer months. He likes the variety of the radio station, all the local music and Lake Superior...
Melanie Steele
Melanie became WTIP's development director in March of 2007 when she moved to Grand Marais from a small island off the West Coast. When she finds the time between writing grants, working with underwriters and coordinating membership drives, Melanie can be found hiking the trails with her daughter,...
Roger Linehan
Roger joined WTIP in the fall of 2007 as the program director. He’s a Marshalltown, Iowa native and a 1972 graduate of the University of Iowa. Prior to coming on board at the station, he worked as a newspaper editor in Iowa and Minnesota, spent time in England, obtained a masters degree in...