By Kris Leonhardt

Editor-in-Chief

GREEN BAY – In March, George Stanley will join Multi Media Channels (MMC), the publishing company of this weekly, as the Local News Initiatives Adviser.

In his role, Stanley will work with the Pass it Forward internship program, as well as other company initiatives to nurture a healthy community journalism environment in the state.

“We are excited to have George as a part of our editorial team as we know he will enrich and add value to everything we are doing to revitalize local news and take it to the next level,” said MMC CEO Patrick Wood.

Stanley stepped down as editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and regional editor for the USA TODAY Network in January 2023. He led the Journal Sentinel newsroom as editor since 2015 and managing editor since 1997. 

The newspaper’s work won nearly every major national award for reporting about health, business, education, justice, politics, sports and the environment, including 10 Pulitzer finalists and three Pulitzer Prize winners.

Stanley has participated in several national programs aimed at finding a sound future for local news, including the Table Stakes News Transformation program run by the American Press Institute, Lenfest Foundation and Temple University.

Through Table Stakes, the Journal Sentinel learned to innovate, reach readers they hadn’t been serving before, and dramatically grow both digital-only circulation revenue and grant-funded journalism projects.

Stanley helped found the O’Brien Public Service Fellowship program at Marquette University’s journalism school, which is fully endowed by a $10 million donation.

In this program, experienced journalists spend an academic year working on a major public service journalism project that they then bring back to their newsrooms. 

A student returns with each fellow to their home newsroom for a summer internship paid for by the program.

Stanley is past president of the News Leaders Association and a board member of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association.

Before becoming managing editor of the Journal Sentinel, he was business editor and before that he was a reporter for the Milwaukee Sentinel, the Wichita Eagle and Ducks Unlimited magazine with an expertise in environmental and conservation reporting. 

He started his career at the Lake Geneva Regional News after graduating from the University of Wisconsin. 

He and his wife Pam grew up in Allouez. They have five adult children and seven grandchildren.

“I’m excited about working with the Multi Media Channels, the Press Times and the Pass it Forward internship program as foundation stones to strengthen community news coverage in Wisconsin,” Stanley said. “For our democracy to work the way it’s supposed to, people need to be informed about what’s going on at all levels with our schools, law enforcement, roads, zoning, taxes, new developments, you name it. The business models that supported this local reporting are rapidly changing and we’ve got to find ways to retain and rebuild it.”