Gary Ridderbusch, who has led the Vilas County News-Review newsroom for the past decade, has retired as editor, the Eagle River newspaper announced Wednesday.
Ridderbusch, an Abbotsford native and UW-Madison graduate, joined the News-Review staff in April 1985 as an assistant editor. He has remained with the newspaper ever since, moving up to top editor in January 2010 when then-editor Kurt Krueger was named publisher.
- RIDDERBUSCH: It’s been 36 years of covering sports
- KRUEGER: A long, unique era comes to an end
During Ridderbusch’s tenure as editor, the News-Review has won numerous state and national awards, including General Excellence honors in three of the last four years from the National Newspaper Association. The newspaper has been named Best of Division in the WNA Foundation Better Newspaper Contest six times — 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2020 — and was named Weekly Newspaper of the Year in the 2020 contest.
Ridderbusch is expected to continue contributing occasional photos and stories to the News-Review in his retirement. He also told the newspaper he looks forward to more time for fishing, hunting and traveling.
