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Media family shapes Branen on politics, public affairs

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Media and public affairs runs deep in Jessica Branen's family. As a daughter and grandaughter of former owners of Southern Lakes Media in south eastern Wisconsin her life's events have been shaped by public affairs in media.

A native of Burlington, WI, Branen’s journalism career began in high school when she wrote a feature story about her senior class for the school newspaper. There she also took English classes from teacher Tim Mocarski. There she took several upper division level English classes, which according to Mocarski “were precursors to our AP English course”

Early on, Mocarski noticed a sense of preciseness in Branen’s writing. He also noticed how independent and expressive Branen was.

“I know on her writing that was more free form and individual-she developed her own mind and independent thought on a variety of subjects,” he said.

That Branen said came from her family. While her parents were strong supporters of the Republican Party, they never forced her into becoming one.

“My parents have been respectful toward every president, [even when they weren’t republican]” she said.

Like Mocarski, Branen’s father, Robert Branen, noticed early on his daughter’s writing style. “She had a very good command of the English language,” he said.

Mocarski also saw how Branen could bring in personal opinions supporting them with facts and evidence. “As for personal biases, political or social issues, Jess was quite able to express herself and support her opinions with facts and details,” He said.

After high school, Branen delved into the print journalism field with several internships at newspapers around south eastern Wisconsin. However, much of her exposure to media came early on from her family who had owned Southern Lakes Media for years. There she also received her first glimpse into politics and public affairs.

“I’ve had a lot of exposure,” she said. “I have since I was five.”

That exposure has come in various ways, such as remembering when George Bush Sr., who was campaigning at the time, visited her hometown. She also has met former president Bill Clinton, and former Wisconsin Rep. Mark Neumann R. East Troy, had campaign meetings in her parents’ house.

Reporting public affairs, Branen said that experience came from an article she wrote on a condominium development which initially was thought to be threatening a local piece of woodland. However, things were settled before Jessica could report on the situation.

Branen moved onto the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, where in her sophomore year, worked on the student newspaper The Spectator. Current managing editor Brian Reisinger, who at the time was one of two news editors worked periodically with Jessica who was a copy editor.

“Jessica wrote stories that were timely but at the same time could be held to fill a next issue,” he said. “She had great stories to fill in when at times we didn’t have content or not so great content.”

Reisinger described Branen as a sharp person with a bubbly personality, yet at the same time made an impression on the staff in which she accomplished what she needed to do.

Branen wrote a variety of stories in her time at The Spectator: from a hard news article about a new roundabout near Chancellors Hall on the UW-Eau Claire campus, to a feature story on holiday gift giving, to expressing her opinion on United States troops support in Iraq.

Recently Branen reported on the 2007 Ann Devroy Forum featuring Washington Post editors Robert Kaiser and Bob Woodward.

“Journalists seem not to know how to talk,” she said of reporting on the public forum with Kaiser and Woodward. “Bob Woodward would start to say something interesting and then go off subject a lot.”

As for her development in public affairs, Branen said her dad, grandmother and grandfather, all whom she said worked immensely of Southern Lakes Media. However, she said her grandfather was most important shaping her.

“My granddad died when I was two so I really didn’t know him,” she said. “But I got to know much about him from stories about his life [in public affairs].”

Stories about reporting the break up of Apartheid in South Africa and pictures with foreign dignitaries helped Branen understand the great knowledge and dedication her grandfather had in public affairs.

In the future Branen would like to teach for the program Teach Across America which places teachers in rural or urban areas that are lacking teachers for two years. Or she wants to move to Africa and join the ONE campaign joining the 2.4 million others the organization boasts on their website to help fight against poverty and disease.

"It's something I want to do," she said. "I like to help people."