Natalie Eilbert, most recently a Madison-based reporter covering mental health and other issues for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, has been named The Cap Times’ new opinion editor.
An introductory column appeared in the March 25, 2026 issue of The Cap Times. According to the piece:
Eilbert is a published poet with master’s degrees in both fine arts (Columbia University) and journalism (Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism).
She will collaborate inside TCT’s newsroom with Cap Times Editor Mark Treinen, for whom she worked when he was the top editor at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. She was a government watchdog reporter before moving into mental health reporting and then joining the Journal Sentinel two years ago.
A native of the New York City area, Eilbert came to Madison as a poetry fellow with the Wisconsin Institute of Creative Writing at the University Wisconsin-Madison. She has written books of poetry and taught creative writing. One of her final reporting projects focused on the dangerous ease with which young people connect with online hate sites, including the 15-year-old girl who was the shooter at Madison’s Abundant Life Christian School in 2024.
