Tag: Warm

WTOP evening anchor Dimitri Sotis, whose deep, warm voice informed and kept listeners in the D.C. region company during storms, elections and breaking news, has died at the age of 55.

“It is with the utmost sadness and shock that I write this email to let you all know our friend and coworker, Dimitri Sotis, has passed away,” said Joel Oxley, general manager of WTOP and president of Hubbard Radio Washington, D.C., in an email to staff early Sunday.

Sotis was found unresponsive in his home in Alexandria, Virginia, late Saturday night.

Sotis was the evening anchor at WTOP for more than two decades; listeners heard his distinctive timbre weekdays from 7 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

He informed listeners about the news that affected their communities, helped them navigate weather emergencies and delivered breaking news, such as the 2024 election. He not only ensured listeners got the latest results and the most up-to-date developments, but added context and perspectives.

Sotis conducted countless live interviews with newsmakers and conveyed an earnest interest in any subject matter. He asked probing questions in a cordial way that got to the answers listeners needed to know.

Afternoon drive anchor Shawn Anderson said Sotis “especially shined in breaking news situations, where you have to throw out the script and guide listeners through the fog and confusion.”

Sotis was among the anchors honored with the 2012 National Edward R. Murrow Award for best large-market radio newscast for coverage of the U.S. mission that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden.

Sotis joined WTOP in 1999. WTOP national security correspondent J.J. Green remembered Sotis approaching him in a hotel lobby in the early 1990s at a journalism conference and job fair. Green referred him for an available internship at WMAL, where Green was working at the time.

“A month later he started working and never looked back,” Green said. “We have had an amazing brotherhood since that day. And I have watched him become the best in our business. I told him many times he was the best news anchor in America, and I truly believe that.”

Sotis is survived by his mother, Dimitra Sotiropoulos; his brother, Stamatis Sotiropoulos; and his sister-in-law Holly, as well as the couple’s children Kasper and Buster. 

The kid in school with a ‘pretend radio station’

Born Dimitri Sotiropoulos on Dec. 6, 1969, he grew up in Muncie, Indiana, where he said he developed a love for his craft.

WTOP/Alejandro Alvarez

WTOP/Brett Snyder

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Courtesy Shannon Finney Photography

WTOP/Kate Ryan

WTOP file photo

“Dimitri has known from age 10 that this is what he wanted to do. He was the kid in school with the pretend radio station in his basement,” according to his WTOP biography.

The son of Greek immigrants who moved to the U.S. for college, Sotis referred to his parents as the “only real heroes in his life.”

“Dimitri took great pride in his Greek heritage, something we bonded over from the day we met in 2001,” WTOP Sports Director George Wallace said. “I learned a lot about Greece and ‘Old school’ Greek traditions from Dimitri, along with learning a new Greek word almost daily!”

Wallace and Sotis worked together on the Radio Olympus Weekly Greek Radio Magazine program that aired from 2008 to 2010.

“There were many times during the show where I would need help with a translation or how to pronounce a certain Greek word and he, just as he did with everything else, was very quick to help and answer any question I had,” Wallace said.

In a 2008 interview with Radio Olympus, Sotis said, “My dad taught me how to think critically, how to size up a situation.” Meanwhile, his mother taught him “how to behave properly in social situations, how to be organized and how important it is to do a job thoroughly and not cut corners.”

Sotis, for years, visited Greece for a month each summer.

He graduated in 1992 from Ball State University with a bachelor of science in telecommunications. He was hired as a producer and quickly became an anchor at UPI Radio Network in the mid-1990s.

WTOP reporter Neal Augenstein worked with Sotis at UPI’s Washington bureau, and he recognized Sotis’ talent from the start.

“From his incredible voice, to his calm, conversational delivery, you could tell he was already a ‘gentleman journalist’ back then,” Augenstein said.

Guiding the next WTOP generation

Many of Sotis’ colleagues woke up to the news of his passing on Sunday morning. Expressions of shock, disbelief and sadness reverberated over a flurry of emails and text messages, sharing what happened the night before.

“Anyone who you hear anchoring was taught by him,” WTOP reporter John Domen said. “A glue guy in the afternoon, who was just so smooth and easygoing, yet he never mailed it in.”

Oxley, the general manager, said that producer Mike Jakaitis told him that, “Dimitri always checked and reviewed his work as an anchor every night like it was his first shift — he cared that much.”

WTOP news writer Alicia Abelson worked closely with Sotis both as producer and associate producer. She remembered Sotis as a person who helped uplift and inspire those new to working in journalism.

“He genuinely cared about helping the fresh faces of WTOP find their voice,” Abelson said.

Bloomberg Radio anchor Nathan Hager was trained by Sotis when he was at WTOP. Hager described him as “endlessly patient and generous with his knowledge.”

Kindest soul with a bawdy laugh

“His last words to me during his busy Friday night were a ‘thank you’ text for ‘going above and beyond,’” WTOP Capitol Hill correspondent Mitchell Miller said.

Sotis had reached out to him after the confirmation of the new U.S. defense secretary and asked whether Miller could join him live to discuss the breaking news.

“He was just a wonderful human being, with a bawdy laugh and nice words for everyone,” Miller said.

WTOP reporter Mike Murillo said Sotis’ voice was “unmatched,” but he was also “the kindest soul.”

Producer Jakaitis worked with Sotis at WMAL, and their friendship grew when both were at WTOP.

In 2005, Sotis won the grand prize in a WTOP newsroom contest — an all-expense-paid cruise.

“We were so happy for him,” Jakaitis said. A few months later, when Sotis asked Jakaitis what he and his then fiancee planned to do for their honeymoon, Jakaitis said they were leaning toward a cruise.

“Right then, he told me he wanted to give us the cruise he won as our wedding present. I was floored,” Jakaitis said. “I told him we couldn’t accept it, but he insisted. My wife Kellie and I will never forget what he did for us, but that was Dimitri.”

Murillo said Sotis was family to many in the newsroom.

“He was always doing anything he could to really lift the morale in the newsroom, and make sure everybody felt a part of this radio family,” Murillo said.

WTOP evening sports anchor Rob Woodfork and Sotis bonded over a shared love of the “Burgundy and Gold” for the last 13 years.

“I hate that Dimitri wasn’t here to see the Commanders return to the NFC championship game,” Woodfork said. “Dimitri was the best of us … You will be greatly missed, my friend.”

Funeral arrangements are pending.

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