Who We Are

The members of Wisconsin Community Media are media centers managed by local governments, school districts, colleges and non-profit organizations for the benefit of our local communities. We are independent producers who want our work seen more widely throughout the state. We are people who want to see local media outlets covering local stories thrive.

Our members have united to collaborate, educate, advocate, and share resources to build strong media centers and create responsive local programming for Wisconsin communities. We encourage the creation of local non-profit media production and distribution facilities where "everyday" people can produce programs about subjects that matter to them and to their communities.

WCM was established in 1998 and is a non-profit 501(c)(6) organization.

Our 2023 - 2024 Board of Directors

WCM Staff

WCM Members on Committees

Communications & Resources Committee

Bill Baker, Community Producer, Sun Prairie Media Center
David Ballerstein, Communications Specialist, City of Marshfield
David Bennett, Communications & Multimedia Coordinator, Columbus Television

Public Policy Committee

Ben Becs, Media Producer, WMCF Village of McFarland
Will Nimmow, Director, Monona Community Media

Conferences Committee

Jim Knightwright, Training Manager, CAN TV, Chicago
Alan Luckett, Director, JATV Media Services, City of Janesville
Spencer Meier, Media Manager, WSTO City of Stoughton
Janice Newman, Producer/Host, Y? Why Not!, South Holland, IL
Will Nimmow, Director, Monona Community Media

Board of Directors

Jake Timm, President
Will Nimmow, Vice President
Tim Montgomery, Secretary
Deb Brunett, Treasurer
Mary Rhodes
Mary Cardona
Dan Folkman

WCM History

Wisconsin Community Media was founded in 1998 as the Wisconsin Association of PEG Channels (WAPC). WAPC was begun by managers of PEG (Public, Education and Government) access centers around the state who wanted to organize in order to share knowledge and experiences and hold professional development events.  PEG media centers also wanted to showcase the local programming they were creating through a statewide video fest.  For the first eight years, an all-volunteer board of directors managed WAPC.  In 2006, with 38 member stations, WAPC hired a part-time executive director.  

In 2007 when legislation was introduced that threatened the local franchising process and funding for community television, WAPC's membership ballooned to 65 members. While WAPC was unable to stop the bill, which was being pushed by both AT&T and the cable industry, it was able to soften the effect of the legislation on PEG media centers.

WAPC changed its name in 2011 to Wisconsin Community Media to reflect the growing number of ways centers distribute programming. In 2012, the WCM Board of Directors opened up membership to individual producers, businesses, and supporters of community media.  As a result, WCM now has Independent Producer members, who distribute their programs via PEG media centers; Friend members, who just want to support local media, stay in touch, and be involved more; and Emeritus Members, a category created for those who have retired from the field and want to continue to contribute.

You can see the local programs our members are producing by finding our channels on cable television and online where we use Video-On-Demand, live streaming and commercial Over-The-Top video services like Roku and Apple TV. By using several types of media, we can reach a variety of local audiences. Several of our member media centers also operate low-power community radio stations.

Today WCM has a membership of 52 local media centers plus our individual members who come together through WCM to educate, advocate, and share resources to build strong media centers and create responsive local programming for Wisconsin communities. WCM believes strong media centers build strong communities and we continue to work on this mission every day.