Anyone who read Unorganized Territory last week probably figured out that I am a fan of WTIP Community Radio. From my days at Arrowhead Electric when WTIP was just getting off the ground to my time as editor at the Cook County Star and then the News- Herald, I’ve always pitched the importance of this local community asset.
At Arrowhead, WTIP was a lifeline during the July ’99 blowdown storm. When hundreds of people were out of power up the Gunflint Trail, they were tuned in with battery-operated radios. Through a daily report on WTIP, talking to Howard McKenzie or Randy Eastland, I passed along information on the progress on line repairs.
Shortly after the blowdown, I left Arrowhead to work at the newspaper. Someone had the idea of inviting us in to give a weekly “What’s in the paper?” report. I’ve been doing that, usually on Thursday mornings around 9:35 a.m. for about 13 years now. The first time was a bit scary, but the morning hosts were Bob Carter and Karla Shatzer, both warm and friendly and easy to talk to.
So for years now, I’ve gone on each week, many times during the pledge drive. I like to join in on the excitement, to help encourage others to support our local radio station. I can usually think of something to say if I’m asked, “What’s your favorite thing about WTIP?”
But I must admit that every time the pledge drive rolls around, I get a little jealous. It would be kind of fun if we had a pledge drive here at the News-Herald. We play a similar role as WTIP. We both provide news and entertainment to our community. We both cover sports and kids’ activities. We both announce upcoming community events. We both have historical features. We are alike in many ways; we just deliver our information in different formats.
But one way we are very different is we don’t have a pledge drive at the News-Herald. We don’t take a full week to reach out to the community to solicit answers to the question, “What’s your favorite thing about the News-Herald?”
We do get feedback. After every issue, we get phone calls and e-mails and notes in the mail with input, good and bad. We get hate mail asking why we covered something and we get words of praise and encouragement for covering the same matter. We get kudos for our business features and human-interest stories and we get complaints that we aren’t offering enough business news or people-oriented articles. We’re told we did a great job covering a meeting and we get told we shouldn’t have reported something that was said in the meeting. So we do get a good share of input from readers of our community newspaper.
And we do share it; we just do so quietly. We have a bulletin board by our front door where we hang notes from subscribers and advertisers and people who have been subjects of stories. Stop by sometime and take a look. And while you’re at it, let us know, “What’s your favorite thing about the News-Herald?”
I expect that all of us get pretty much
what we deserve of appreciation.
A. C. Benson
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