In a staffing reorganization that aims to put more reporters in the community to cover issues of local importance, APG publications across southern Wisconsin are moving veteran staff members who had been in managerial roles into senior reporting roles, the company has announced.
“I am excited about our reorganization plan and believe it places resources at the local level that will result in better content at each of our papers,” Mark Lewis, regional president for APG Southern Wisconsin and publisher of The (Janesville) Gazette, said in the announcement to readers. “We are driven to improve local content and each of our communities should benefit from this change. I believe this is great for our staff and the towns we serve.”
As part of the restructuring, Karyn Saemann, editor of The Gazette, will also serve as regional editor for APG-Southern Wisconsin, directing editorial operations for the groups five additional daily publications — Beloit Daily News, Daily Jefferson County Union in Fort Atkinson, Watertown Daily Times, Antigo Daily Journal and (Marinette) EagleHerald — as well as its nine weekly print and digital publications that are part of Hometown News Group.
Prior to being named editor of The Gazette in May 2022, Saemann served as managing editor of the Cambridge News and Deerfield Independent and lead editor for Adams Publishing Group’s Lake Mills office. She also has worked as a reporter and editor for the Beloit Daily News, Jefferson County Union and The Capital Times in Madison.
Other editors who assumed new leadership roles with APG-Southern Wisconsin include news editor Madeline Westberg, who has worked as a reporter and editor for Hometown News Group since 2018; news editor Brian O’Connor, editor of the Watertown Daily Times since 2022; and regional sports editor Tim Seeman, who has worked for The Gazette in a variety of capacities since 2013, including as most recently as news editor.
