BARRON — Ryan Urban has been named editor of the Barron News-Shield, the newspaper announced Wednesday.
Urban joins the News-Shield after spending the last six years with The Chronotype in Rice Lake. He fills the position vacated by Bob Zientara, who is moving to the role of contributing editor as he transitions to semi-retirement.
A native of Milladore and an Auburndale High School graduate, Urban earned his bachelor’s degree in English from UW-Stevens point in 2010. His previous experience also includes two years as editor of The Chetek Alert from 2012 to 2014.
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Zientara, a longtime journalist, grew up in Cicero, Ill., before graduating from Northern Illinois University in 1971. He started his career with a chain of weekly newspapers in the Chicago suburbs but has spent the majority of it working in northwestern Wisconsin.
In 1975, Zientara joined the News-Shield for a two-year stint before going to work for the Ladysmith News from 1976 to 1984. His next stop saw Zientara spend 13 years with the Hudson Star-Observer, followed by seven with the New Richmond News.
Zientara left Wisconsin for a seven-year run in Iowa, first with the Des Moines Register and later at the Ames Tribune. He returned to the News-Shield in 2012 and has remained with the newspaper for the last eight years.
