If you watched the 10 p.m. sports news last night, you witnessed a Milwaukee media milestone – no matter if you tuned into TMJ4, CBS 58, FOX6 or WISN 12.
As first noticed by WISN sports director Dan Needles, for the first time in the local market's history, all four 10 p.m. news broadcasts featured female sports anchors: Stephanie Sutton on WISN 12, Kaitlin Sharkey on FOX6, Elise Menaker on TMJ4 and Cristina Tuso on CBS 58.
1) This was a historic night in Milwaukee TV sports. @Steph__Sutton, @KRoseSharkey, @EliseMenaker, @CristinaTuso all anchored 10 pm sports. — dan needles (@dneedles12) June 7, 2017
"(Needles) called me and said, 'Were you aware of this?' and I'm like, 'Of course not! I was busy doing my Brewers highlights and running around doing my sports behind the scenes,' so I had no idea until I saw the tweet," Sutton said. "But I think it's pretty unique. It's pretty incredible. I've been here 14 years, and that definitely hasn't happened in that time that I've been here."
After their respective broadcasts, the four anchors shared a nice collective Twitter high-five in honor of their local media landmark.
Get outta here! So strong! Pumped to be a part of that moment with these ladies. 👊🏻 https://t.co/4PCqoqnhoY — Cristina Tuso CBS 58 (@CristinaTuso) June 7, 2017
Oh cool! Girl power! https://t.co/xkpNjAl3M8 — Elise Menaker (@EliseMenaker) June 7, 2017
.@dneedles12 Who rules the world? Just saying... https://t.co/9heE8fvZdd — Stephanie Sutton (@Steph__Sutton) June 7, 2017
👏🏻👏🏻 Love it! https://t.co/DRR4BRg12C — Kaitlin Sharkey (@KRoseSharkey) June 7, 2017
Unless you're a vigorous channel-flipper or have some impressive multi-television home entertainment setup, it's a historical moment you most likely didn't even realize was happening, but it's no less an achievement for the market – and for a sports media landscape that's historically been slow on inclusivity.
"I definitely think it shows progress, and I think it shows that more and more people are becoming accepting of seeing women in these positions, these kinds of male-dominated positions in a male-dominated field," Sutton said. "I'm even thinking about markets around the country, that's gotta be pretty rare – whether it's Chicago or Louisville or L.A. – to see women all at the same time doing sports."
And considering the Brewers won last night, history should probably keep repeating itself. Don't want to mess with a potential winning streak, after all!
As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.
When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.