Member News

O’Rourke Media Group has named Caleb Anderson vice president of sales for Minnesota and western Wisconsin. The group owns several Wisconsin newspapers, including the Ripon Commonwealth Press and the recently acquired (Hudson) Star-Observer and (Ellsworth/Red Wing, Minn.) Republican Eagle.

A Wisconsin native, Anderson most recently worked two years as a La Crosse-based regional sales manager for Lee Enterprises. 

Rich Jackson, who in May earned national attention as "The Homeless Editor," has been named editor and general manager of the Spooner Advocate and the (Hayward) Sawyer County Record.

A Wisconsin native and longtime newspaper veteran, Jackson grew up in Chippewa Falls and earned his journalism degree from UW-Eau Claire. While in college, he worked for The Spectator student newspaper and interned for the Leader-Telegram. He started his professional career in the 1990s with stints at the (Beaver Dam) Daily Citizen, (Wisconsin Rapids) Daily Tribune and the Wausau Daily Herald. 

Jackson succeeds Paul Mitchell, who held the same roles with the Advocate and Record before retiring late last year.

Richard Moore, an award-winning investigative reporter for The Lakeland Times, has published a book on transparency in Wisconsin’s state government.

The book, “Dark State: How Citizens Can Open the Doors to Wisconsin’s Closed Government,” was released Feb. 2 and is available on Amazon or through Moore’s website. Moore’s announcement describes the book as an urgent call to action to combat what he says is a “dangerous turn toward secrecy and censorship in Wisconsin state government.”

After 43 years in the industry, Kathy Potter is retiring from her role as general manager for several News Publishing Company weekly newspapers and shoppers, the company announced Wednesday.

A Black River Falls native, Potter got her start in the late 1970s selling ads for the Jackson County Shopper. In 1985, she left to start her own publication, The Shopper’s Choice.

She sold the shopper in 1989 to News Publishing Company, where she went on to oversee day-to-day operations of three weekly newspapers and a group of shoppers as general manager. Potter remained in the role until her retirement this week. Succeeding her as general manager will be Julie Iverson.

The Post-Crescent has named Brad Star as its consumer business reporter, the Appleton newspaper announced this week.

Star, who has been with the newspaper’s parent company since July 2019, introduced himself to readers in a column Wednesday. He succeeds Maureen Wallenfang, who left in late November.

A native of the Milwaukee area, Star earned his bachelor’s degree from Beloit College in 2019, where he majored in business economics and served as news editor and editor-in-chief of The Round Table student newspaper. After graduating, he joined USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin as a producer.

Jonathan Stefonek has been named managing editor of the DeForest Times-Tribune, the newspaper announced Tuesday.

Stefonek most recently worked as communications coordinator for Wisconsin United Methodist Church. Before his brief stint with the church, he served as writer and content specialist for Sauk Prairie Healthcare and as a reporter for the Portage Daily Register. Stefonek earned bachelor’s degrees in marketing communications and broadcast journalism from UW-River Falls and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Iowa.

Todd Colling has been named general manager of the Antigo Daily Journal and (Marinette) EagleHerald,
Adams Publishing Group announced Tuesday.

In 2019, Colling
succeeded longtime publisher Kent Eymann as general manager of the Beloit Daily News, where he had worked in various managerial roles since 1999.

Colling, who grew up in Marinette, delivered newspapers for the EagleHerald, where he also
worked in the newsroom before serving as circulation district manager under his father, Dennis Colling.

The Denmark News has added contributing writer Patti Mulcahy to its reporting staff, the newspaper announced Friday.

Mulcahy is a southwestern Wisconsin native and has been a resident of the Denmark area for more than 20 years. She has worked in a variety of fields over the years, including milking her own cows as a dairy farmer.