Joel DeSpain signs off and hits the road
Joel DeSpain’s career took him from TV journalist to law enforcement public information officer.
May 6, 2021 8:49 AM Doug Moe
Updated:
Photo by Sharon Vanorny
When Joel DeSpain landed his first full-time job in journalism running WISC-TV News 3’s nascent Rock County bureau in the early 1980s his office was at the airport between Janesville and Beloit. The only people he saw regularly were a group of guys who lurked at the end of a long basement hallway. DeSpain thought they were airport maintenance, noting, “I couldn’t figure out why they wouldn’t talk to me.”