Kevin Passon, a longtime Wisconsin journalist and Shawano native, has been named editor-in-chief for NEW Media, a newspaper group that includes the Shawano Leader, Oconto County Times Herald and Wittenberg Enterprise and Birnamwood News. Most recently, Passon served as editor of the Antigo Journal, a position he'd held since 2020. 

Passon succeeds interim editor, Warren Bluhm, who has held the position since March 2021. Bluhm will return to his previous duties as news editor, which includes coverage of Oconto County. 

Brian Wilson, news editor for The (Medford) Star News, and Peter Weinschenk, who worked as the editor of The Record-Review before retiring in October, were recognized last month for outstanding editorial writing during the annual conference of the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors in Reno, Nevada. They were honored with Golden Dozen Awards — the 12 best editorials as picked by this year's judge, journalist Brian Duggan.

Wilson’s editorial, "Tragedy is a wake-up call," was published in the May 5, 2022, and written in response to the murder of Lilly Peters of Chippewa Falls. Weinschenk's editorial, "We seek justice," was published on Sept. 14, 2022, and was written about inmates in the county jail system who sometimes wait years for a trial.

Andrew Fayler is the new multimedia marketing executive for the advertising and sales team of the Duluth Media Group, which includes the Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune, Superior Telegram and Cloquet (Minn.) Pine Journal. His first day was May 18.

A native of Afton, Minnesota, Fayler attended Stillwater Area High School and earned a marketing degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth. Prior to joining the news group, Fayler worked at Selma's Ice Cream Parlor in Afton, Minn. — the oldest ice cream parlor in the state.

Roger Mathews, who has worked at newspapers in both Wisconsin and Texas, has joined the Ripon Commonwealth Press as a reporter.

Mathews, 69, previously covered Markesan for the Berlin Journal newspaper group. Most recently, he was a reporter at the Kerrville (Texas) Daily Times, a three-times-weekly newspaper about an hour northwest of San Antonio. He now lives in Green Lake and plans to move to Ripon in the coming years.