Mark Saxenmeyer created The Reporters Inc. in the mid-2000s, at a time when he was becoming increasingly frustrated by the limitations of television news. A shrinking TV news audience resulted in shrinking advertising dollars, shrinking staffs, shorter stories and less substantive reporting. Mark intended for The Reporters Inc. to be an oasis of sorts, a new and much-needed voice in an increasingly fractured and shallow media universe. The goal from the very beginning has been to provide and produce in-depth, compelling, meaningful and memorable documentaries and long-form online journalism.
Between 1987 and 2013, Mark reported and produced for ABC, FOX and CBS affiliates in Madison (Wisconsin), Hartford (Connecticut), Sacramento (California), Minneapolis (Minnesota) and, for 17 years, Chicago (Illinois). Yet aside from his television news career, Mark’s resume is extremely diverse: He’s mentored more than 100 college journalism interns, he’s the author of a chapter in two editions of the University of Illinois textbook Race/Gender/Class/Media, he’s produced home improvement programs for the DIY cable television network, he’s served as a Big Brother with both the Chicago and Sacramento chapters of Big Brothers of America, he’s coached a high school speech team in the Minneapolis suburbs, he’s a graduate of the FBI’s Citizens’ Academy in Chicago, and he’s studied and lived abroad in both Spain and Paraguay.
Mark is the recipient of the Leadership in Journalism Education award from Loyola University Chicago, he was presented with the Young Alumni Award for Outstanding Achievement And Distinguished Service from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (his alma mater), and he was an inaugural inductee into his high school’s (Thomas Jefferson in Bloomington, Minnesota) Hall of Fame.
Mark’s broadcast journalism, community service, documentary, and factual entertainment projects have been honored with numerous national awards, including an Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and an Edward R. Murrow from the Radio Television Digital News Association. He’s also won national prizes from the Scripps Howard Foundation, the National Association of Black Journalists, the American Women in Radio and Television, and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, among others. (Additionally, his work has garnered 32 regional Emmy awards, 17 regional Associated Press awards, and 17 regional Society of Professional Journalists awards.)
Mark and his partner currently reside in the Minneapolis area with their handsome, brilliant and talented Havanese pup, Desi.
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