Monthly Archives: January 2026

Mike Truett has been promoted to News Director of WISC-TV in Madison.

Truett joined the News 3 Now team last summer as Assistant News Director. The company said he, “has demonstrated strong leadership abilities from day one.”

“Over the past several months, he has served as interim news director during a nationwide search process, skillfully leading the multi-platform news team with dedication and vision.”

“I am excited to have Mike take the reins of the News 3 Now team here in Madison,” said Scot Chastain, VP/GM of WISC-TV. “He has tremendous leadership background, and I look forward to working with him as he grows our operation on every platform.”

Truett’s background includes spearheading award-winning journalism and driving growth and innovation in digital content and newscasts.

Most recently, Truett served as News Director at KWCH/KSCW in Wichita, Kansas, where he supervised a staff of journalists and technicians. During his tenure there, he created and launched an OTT digital newscast, a 30-minute Storm Team 12 Weather Focus daily weather newscast, and Fact Finder Investigates weekly investigative newscast. Under his leadership, the stations increased video plays and engagement across all platforms by 35 percent.

Prior to his role in Wichita, Truett served as News Director at WICS/WRSP in Springfield, Illinois, where he led the consolidation of two company newsrooms into a single market entity. He also spearheaded Emmy and Murrow award-winning coverage, including the documentary “Project Illinois: Justice for Ta’naja.” His leadership resulted in significant ratings improvements, moving the stations from 3rd place to 1st in all morning dayparts and from 3rd to 2nd place in 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. dayparts.

Truett’s career includes news director and assistant news director roles in markets including Mobile, Alabama, and Champaign, Illinois. He also served as assignment editor at WREG in Memphis, Tennessee, and began his broadcasting career at WMC in Memphis as Assignment Manager, MMJ, and Producer.

Truett served as a volunteer with the United States Peace Corps from 2006 to 2009, working as a journalism instructor at Horlivka State Pedagogical Institute for Foreign Languages and serving as a U.S. Representative to the Ukrainian Government Educational Development Task Force.

“I’m excited to become News Director at News 3 Now and join this dedicated multi-platform content team,” Truett said. “I look forward to contributing to the station’s legacy and delivering impactful news to our southern Wisconsin communities.”

Truett will lead the News 3 Now newsroom and work collaboratively with other departments across Morgan Murphy Media in Madison, including Madison Magazine and their editorial operations. In Madison, he will oversee the CBS affiliate WISC-TV, Television Wisconsin (OTA 3.2, cable channel 14), and the award-winning local website channel3000.com.

Truett holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Memphis.

Keith Edwards is returning to WQOW-TV in Eau Claire as an 18 News Evening Anchor at 5, 6, and 10 p.m.

Edwards had previously anchored at WQOW for 13 years.

“Edwards is an outstanding journalist and a great team member,” said Kristen Shill, WQOW/WXOW News Director. “Our viewers are already familiar with Keith’s trusted voice and commitment to our community, so we know they’re excited to see him back on our nightly newscasts.”

“I’m extremely excited for this opportunity,” Edwards said. “To be able to continue to work with such a dedicated team of journalists and editors is a privilege and I’m excited just to get back to work. The viewers’ trust means everything to me, and I promise to keep bringing them the same insightful and engaging stories the 18 News Team and I always strive for.”

WQOW also announced Jessica Djukic has joined the station as evening anchor. Djukic previously anchored the evening news at WFJW in Rhinelander. Djukic also held positions at KODE-TV, Joplin, MO, KJRH-TV, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and KAUZ-TV, Wichita Falls, Texas.

“Jessica’s previous experience anchoring, producing and reporting made her the perfect choice to co-anchor our evening shows,” Shill said. “Her well-rounded experience in the industry is a huge plus for our news team and we know our viewers will love having Jessica behind the desk every night.”

Djukic is a graduate of Kent State University School of Journalism and Mass Communication with a Bachelor of Science in Broadcast Journalism and a concentration in political science.

Cooper Wild has joined WQOW-TV as sport director. Wild comes from WAOW-TV in Wausau where he was a multimedia journalist. Wild is a graduate of UW-Green Bay with a degree in Sports Communication. He grew up in Medford and has family in the Chippewa Valley.

“I can’t tell you how excited I am to get to work here at 18 News.” Wild said. “Sports has always been a huge passion of mine, and being able to cover sports in such a great community. I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity.”

WTMJ TV 4, The Cap Times and the Wisconsin State Journal were the top finishers in the second annual Wisconsin A-Mark Prize for Investigative Journalism competition.

The award recognizes excellence in investigative reporting. Submissions were evaluated based on the core criteria of journalism quality, presentation quality, responsiveness to community needs, and impact. 

Winners and the corresponding prizes include: 

First Place: $5,000 for the journalist(s) and $2,500 to the news organization — For the entry “Housing Authority Accountability” by WTMJ 4 News and Chief Investigative Reporter Jenna Rae.

Judges’ comments: “This piece includes stories that aired between December 2024 and February 2025. Fantastic watchdog and accountability reporting! Kudos to the reporter! They attended public meetings, listened closely to HACM residents’ and employees’ concerns, visited the apartments themselves, and persistently sought answers from the HACM executive director and the mayor. The work shows strong use of reports, lawsuit documents and open records requests, demonstrating a thorough and determined investigative effort. The reporting struck a chord and incited community outcry, and had the mayor finally respond. Yet they say their work isn’t done yet as they seek more answers.”

Second Place: $3,000 for the journalist(s) and $1,500 to the news organization — For the entry “High-speed police chases,” by The Cap Times and Reporter Danielle DuClos. 

Judges’ comments: “This was fantastic, rigorous reporting with real community impact, strong sourcing and powerful storytelling. From cleaning and analyzing a massive, disorganized dataset to comparing pursuit policies, interviewing experts and humanizing the issue through deeply emotional firsthand accounts. It includes diverse, credible sources, multimedia evidence and strong narrative clarity. Most importantly, it produced tangible impact in the community, prompting public discussion, scrutiny of police leaders, new citizen watchdog efforts and even anonymous confirmation from within law enforcement about cultural problems. The paper trail is there, and using this accident to highlight a bigger problem of risky high-speed chases is solid work. Kudos to the reporter!”

Third Place: $2,000 for the journalist(s) and $1,000 to the news organization — For the entry “Shattered Dreams,” by the Wisconsin State Journal and Reporters Todd Milewski and Jim Polzin.

Judges’ comments: “Excellent reporting! By following whispers, reviewing emails and documents, and conducting hours of interviews, the reporters went far beyond surface-level coverage to give these women a voice.”

About A-Mark 

The A-Mark Prize for Investigative Journalism is open to all journalists and all news organizations in Wisconsin. The A-Mark Foundation is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization incorporated in 1997.  

A-Mark is dedicated to supporting and encouraging journalism and investigative reporting through grants to organizations that offer awards recognizing journalistic excellence. One of A-Mark’s flagship initiatives is the A-Mark Prizes program, which recognizes and rewards the best investigative journalism in each state. 

TMJ4 News (WTMJ-TV) is promoting of Investigative Reporter Jenna Rae to Chief Investigative Reporter. The station said the move, “recogniz(es) her exceptional dedication to uncovering impactful stories and holding powerful institutions accountable.”

Rae has earned two Emmy Awards and multiple WBA Awards, notably for her in-depth investigations into the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee. Nationally, she has been recognized with an Edward R. Murrow Award for coverage of a school shooting in St. Louis.

Prior to joining TMJ4 News, Rae worked in St. Louis, Missouri and Huntsville, Alabama, where her investigations sparked real-world reforms. In Alabama, she exposed dangerous pollution from a local plant, leading to increased EPA regulations and penalties to protect the Tennessee River. She also broke stories on the first COVID-19 vaccine inoculation in the state and shined a light on unsafe conditions in nursing homes.

In St. Louis, Rea’s reporting brought national attention to a deadly warehouse tornado and exposed long-standing problems in local justice centers, while also helping residents secure unemployment benefits and advocating for tenant rights.

A graduate of the University of Missouri in Columbia, Rea earned dual degrees in political science and broadcast journalism.

“Jenna’s tireless commitment to truth and public service sets the highest standard for journalism,” said Tim Vetscher, News Director at TMJ4. “Her ability to uncover facts, give voice to those who need it most, and spark change is exactly what strong investigative work should do. We are thrilled to recognize her with this well-earned promotion.”

Caroline Bach has been named Allen Media’s Wisconsin Regional News Director, overseeing operations at WKOW-Madison, WAOW-Wausau, WXOW-La Crosse and WQOW-Eau Claire.

“Caroline has been an integral part of our newsroom,” said Anna Engelhart, Regional Vice President for Allen Media Wisconsin markets. “I’m thrilled to have someone with her experience, positive attitude and effective communication skills.”

Bach started with the company at WVVA in West Virginia in 2012 as the Beckley Bureau Reporter and was soon promoted to Weekend Anchor. She came to WKOW as the Weekend Morning Anchor/Morning Reporter in 2014, eventually earning promotions to Weekend Morning Anchor/Executive Producer, 11 a.m. Anchor/5 p.m. producer, Content Manager and Assistant News Director. Bach graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Honors Program at Baldwin Wallace University. She completed an MBA from the University of Wisconsin, focusing on management, strategy and marketing.

“I’m extremely grateful and eager for this opportunity to lead the WKOW newsroom, as well as our newsrooms across the state of Wisconsin,” Bach said. “We have an excellent team of hard-working journalists who will continue to keep our community top of mind, providing content to keep viewers informed and safe.”

Bach began her duties at WKOW on Jan. 1. News Director Dani Maxwell was promoted to National News Director of Allen Media Broadcasting, WKOW’s parent company, after working for WKOW 27 News for 14 years. She will be working with all AMB newsrooms across the country, providing training, feedback, coaching and talent recruitment.