LACROSSE, Wis. – The editor of the LaCrosse Tribune, Rusty Cunningham, who has double-dutied from time to time as publisher and editor of the Winona Daily News, will retire next week. He had been with Lee Enterprises, the chain that owns both the LaCrosse and Winona papers, for 41 years. Cunningham reveled as a classroom visitor in local journalism classes. At Winona State he regaled students with colorful, lesson-laden experiences. He championed First Amendment causes and led campaigns for citizen access to government meetings and documents. He was central in a landmark libel case, Schlegel v. Ottumwa Courier. At LaCrosse and Winona, he put a positive public spin on declining national newspaper readership and advertising while maintaining his papers’ central role in local journalism.

Almanac: Lee Enterprises

Cunningham: Free expression advocate