Bellile looks back on four years at Press-Star
By Scott Bellile
As I prepared to complete my journalism degree in early 2015, I had no idea my first job would entail serving the community I’ve always known.
As it happened, a sports reporting job opened up at my hometown weekly newspaper, the New London Press Star, at almost the perfect time. I say “almost perfect” because when Multi Media Channels agreed to hire me, their short-staffed news team had to scramble without me for two more months while I collected my diploma and returned home. Sorry, guys.
Me being a very-few-sport-athlete (I ran in my high school days but never played ball), my first year as a journalist was a challenge learning the rules of football, basketball and baseball so I could half-decently recap games. That’s shameful to admit in the home state of the beloved Packers, Brewers and Bucks, but alas, it’s true.
I quickly became responsible for covering all New London and Hortonville news beats, from municipal government to education to car crashes, and transitioned to editor in late 2016. This variety deepened my understanding of the city where I grew up. More importantly, writing the first drafts of New London’s history allowed me to give back to the community that provided me a wonderful K-12 education, lifelong friendships and a plethora of memories growing up. For that opportunity I am extremely grateful.
So at last I’ll get to the point: After 217 issues of the Press Star, I have departed to take on a new challenge. I studied public relations in college, too, so now I’m putting that education to work as the marketing coordinator for a cheese redistribution company. There I’ll be redesigning a website, coordinating dairy farm tours and flying the country to spread the word about the deliciousness that happy Wisconsin cows have to offer.
I love the new work already. But admittedly I’ll miss the rush of pumping out a hard-hitting news story after a contentious city council meeting. Of photographing an overjoyed child at Fall Fest or Hortonville Homecoming. Of hearing the simplest compliment from readers over and over again: “Nice article.”
I hope during my time here the Press Star shed adequate light on all sorts of local issues, from the controversial Hortonia youth prison, to the will-it-or-won’t-it-happen State Highway 15 bypass (it supposedly will now), to the epic rescue of Styx the kitten, aka Stella, from the Wolf River.
Thanks to Bert Lehman, John Faucher, Erik Buchinger, Bob Cloud, Angela Landsverk, Greg Seubert and Holly Neumann for their hard work in making the newspaper a success during my tenure. I also couldn’t have done it without the countless public officials and everyday citizens who served as valuable sources of information at one point or another.
Please continue reading the Press Star, advertising your businesses and submitting news tips to John and the new editor, Erik. As the news industry evolves, my dream is to see the publication not just hang in there but become even more successful. Fortunately these last four years have shown me that that New London and Hortonville residents are passionate about their local news. I have no doubt their loyalty will continue.