‘Newsmakers’ signs off after 50 years

For some fifty years, radio listeners in the greater La Crosse area have heard in-depth discussions on important public affairs topics on “Newsmakers,” first on UW-La Crosse’s radio station WLSU, then on both WLSU and WHLA after the former became affiliated with Wisconsin Public Radio in the 1990s.

Many hosts have helmed the program through the years, three of whom return to the program to join the current moderator, Ezra Wall. Among today’s panelists, John Davis has had the longest tenure, serving at various times as a host and producer since the 1990s. Davis is currently WPR’s morning news producer. “Wisconsin Life” executive producer Maureen McCollum hosted the program in her early days as a WPR News reporter in the mid-2000s. Hope Kirwan is a WPR News reporter based in La Crosse. She hosted “Newsmakers” until 2020.