Chris Gothner

Photojournalist Lance Heidt and I arrived on the scene minutes after a house on Madison’s west side blew up on a September afternoon. After numerous live shots, including multiple break-ins into daytime programming, we put together this story for our late newscast.
(Shot and edited by photojournalist Lance Heidt)

Many of us rely on apps Google Maps and Uber to give us a precise location of where we are, so why can’t 911 do the same? The answer isn’t simple. WMSN sweeps piece.
(Shot and edited by photojournalist Brian Mesmer with help from Reporter/Photographer Leah Linscheid and Intern Logan Reigstad)

Dayturn piece on a Stoughton man stabbed in an argument over a Minnesota Vikings inflatable decoration. After interviewing the victim, found the city’s Nordic/Viking heritage too ironic not to mention and shot and wrote to it to set up the piece.
(Solo story)

A “News 3 Investigates” story into the hidden danger firefighters face every time they step into smoke and flames: cancer. Recent CDC studies showed that firefighters face a considerably higher risk of contracting cancer than the general population. I wanted to make sure this piece had a face to the statistics and was able to get connected with a firefighter dealing with the disease to share his important, personal story. (Solo story, with editing help from photojournalist Kathy King - archive shots used for illustrative purposes)

Only in Baraboo: An elephant from the Circus World Museum ventured into a neighborhood after escaping from the museum.
(Partial solo story; also shot and edited by photojournalist Kathy King)

Went to the small town of La Valle, home of a major flood in 2008, as local residents prepared for rising waters once again.
(Shot and edited by photojournalist Brian Mesmer)

Follow-up story on a memorial for a man killed in a drunk-driving crash at a Janesville park. I spoke to the victim’s sister.
(Solo story)

A Madison hairdresser has an unusual bond with one of her clients. This story originally aired as a sweeps story on the newscast we produce for WMSN and later aired on WISC on Thanksgiving.
(Shot and edited by photojournalist Brian Mesmer)

Photojournalist Brian Mesmer and I were sent to Janesville with a mission: to preview Vice President Mike Pence’s visit the following day. We were going for a traditional, harder-news angle at first, but we were getting nowhere with police on preparation plans. We hoped to get “man on the street” interviews downtown, but struck out there too. Then, an idea came: going down to the local VFW hall to hear what folks had to say about his visit. We decided to focus on these two men with contrasting views to highlight the political divisions in this longtime union town represented by the Republican Speaker of the House.
(Shot and edited by photojournalist Brian Mesmer)

A Verona teen was told he couldn’t walk at his high school graduation all over a half-credit online geometry class he intended to finish in the summer. I sat down with him.
(Shot and edited by photojournalist Brian Mesmer)

A rural school district comes together to remember a principal killed in a school shooting a decade ago.
(Shot and edited by photojournalist Jim Rader)

One month since an explosion killed five workers and maimed nearly a dozen others in a small Wisconsin town, a group of ladies offer hope in the form of quilts.
(Solo story)