WTIP Wins Fifteen 2026 Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association Awards
WTIP North Shore Community Radio received 15 awards in the small-market media category at the 2026 Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association Eric Sevareid Awards on April 11th in Minneapolis. Executive Director Matthew Brown attended the award ceremony and accepted the honors on behalf of the WTIP team of producers. It was “a great showing for WTIP,” said Brown.
Jennifer Lewerenz, Board Member, presents award to Matthew Brown
First-place awards were received in seven different categories:
- Broadcast Writing – Trail Time: The Lakes are Singing, by Marcia Roepke
- Documentary/Special – Life on the Seagull River: Dewey Pihlman’s story of resilience along the Gunflint Trail, by Kalli Hawkins
- Investigative Reporting – Updated PHHS investigation documents provide details on mismanagement of client cases, department finances, and personnel issues, by Kirsten Wisniewski
- News Series – Ongoing news reporting on mining threat to Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, by Josh Hinke
- Videojournalism – Grand Portage Sugar Bush, by Chuck Olsen
- Soft Feature – The Lake Superior Project: Thinking in Flowers and the Lost Dress, by Staci Drouillard
WTIP producer Chuck Olsen also received first-place honors in the Multimedia Journalist/Solo Storyteller category.
An additional eight stories received MBJA awards of merit:
- Broadcast Writing – North Woods Naturalist: Chickadee and Woodpecker Adaptations by Chel Anderson
- General Reporting – Loons entangled in fishing tackle on two Gunflint Trail lakes highlight human impact, by Kalli Hawkins
- Breaking News – Woman and dog rescued from partially submerged vehicle on Poplar Lake, by Kalli Hawkins
- News Series – Ongoing news reporting on Child Care in Cook County, by Josh Hinke
- Soft Feature – Traveling the Old North Shore: Uncommon Upbringing, by Martha Marnocha
- Sports Play-by-Play – 4th Quarter of the Section 7, nine-man championship game, Cook County vs. Littlefork-Big Falls, by Sterling Anderson and Josh Belanger
- Sports Reporting – Cook County Vikings Football is State-bound, by Josh Hinke
- Videojournalism – Minnesota DNR Trout Stocking in Cook County, by M Baxley
The MBJA Eric Sevareid Awards are named for the North Dakota-born and University of Minnesota-educated journalist best known for his work as a correspondent for CBS Radio and Television. Each year, the MBJA presents awards to the best work done by broadcast news operations and journalists working in small, medium and large markets in our six-state region on radio, television and online. The distinguished panel of judges is made up of journalists and educators who live outside of Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Dakotas, Iowa and Nebraska to help ensure impartiality.
Staci Drouillard April 12, 2026
