Two long-time community media volunteer producers will be recognized next month at the 2024 spring Wisconsin Community Media conference as Friends of Access.

The Friend of Access Award recognizes people in Wisconsin who understand, support, and champion community media. Typically the award recognizes those who have made a significant impact on the success of a media center or someone who has been involved in community media for many years and has demonstrated a dedication to its mission.

This year’s honorees are Mike Weigel and Nancy Bergman. Weigel has been a long-time community media producer for Marshfield Broadcasting, while Bergman has herself been a long-time producer for WTCO in Trempealeau County.

In nominating Mike Weigel for the honor, Marshfield communications director Tom Loucks said, “I believe Mike deserves the Friend of Access Award because he puts in numerous volunteer hours in weekly. Not only does he film and edit events every week, but he also programs the city’s Producers’ Channel daily as a volunteer. He has been dedicated for over 25 years and never gives up. He looks for programs daily to share on the channel and is instrumental in building promos for the channel too.He is always trying to make things better and get the word out in the community.”

In nominating Nancy Bergman for the award, WTCO digital media director Kevin Bargender said, “Her dedicated work and service to Trempealeau County in helping entertain, educate, and inspire viewers on countless amounts of topics ranging from historical to legendary has been invaluable. Nancy has represented Trempealeau County in a positive way for the past 30 years and continues to look for ways to innovate and better herself in making videos. She is an integral part of WTCO and is a household name for people living in and around Trempealeau County. When people think of WTCO, they think of Nancy. Her passion and dedication to the station does not go unnoticed and because of this, I believe she is worthy of this award.”

Both Bergman and Weigel will be honored during the Best of the Midwest Media Fest. The 2024 fest will be held at the Lismore Hotel in Eau Claire at 6:30 PM on Thursday, May 16, 2024. The awards will be presented jointly by the President of the WCM Board of Directors and the person who submitted the nomination.

The WCM Board of Directors approved these nominations at their February 2024 board meeting.

For more information on the Friend of Access awards, go here.

Congratulations to Mike Weigel and Nancy Bergman and a big thanks to all they have done for community media!

ACT FAST if you're interested because the application deadlines are coming up this week!

Watertown TV is seeking a Media Productions Manager, who is responsible for the day-to-day operations of this public, education, and government access television station and its related platforms. This position reports to the Media and Communications Director. Watertown TV is saying good bye to Jourdan Westenberg, who is moving to North Carolina where he has accepted a new position with Union County in Monroe. "I will be their new Multimedia Specialist covering board meetings, promoting the county, and growing their government access channel." The city will begin reviewing applications on July 14 at 4 pm.

Trempealeau County is seeking a Media Production Coordinator for WTCO, the county's HD cable television channel. This position will have responsibilities related to all facets of media production and report to the Digital Media Director. Applications are due July 16 no later than 11:59 PM Central Time.

Both positions come with a robust benefits package.

To learn more about these positions and to learn how to apply, go to WORK IN MEDIA.