In Memoriam: Doug Freshner

In my 35-plus years at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, I've become known as an outspoken person. Paradoxically, the people who've impacted me most intensely--those who model kindness, generosity, integrity, and decency--have often been soft-spoken.  

The greatest and most inspiring example is the late Doug Freshner. On January 24, 2026 Doug passed away. For about 3-5 years (in the 1998-2003 range), Doug was technical director for "Commentary," a cable television access program I co-produced and co-hosted with former Oshkosh Mayor James Mather. Working in a small Dempsey Hall studio, often with student interns, Doug treated "Commentary" like it had a budget of millions of dollars. (In fact we had no budget!). 

That's Doug Freshner in the middle around the year 2001, in between me and John Berens. Dr. Berens, former UW Oshkosh Polk Library Director, was also a great man who I admired. 

Mr. Mather and I interviewed local elected officials, local and state activists, Wisconsin democracy champions like Jay Heck and Mike McCabe, candidates for Wisconsin governor, local scholars and pundits, legendary Wisconsin journalists John Nichols and Joel McNally, and many others. I also hosted a few of Doug's "University" programs in which I had the opportunity to interview incredible people like food rights activist Deborah Toler, internationally acclaimed pianist Jania Aubakirova, and Friedhelm Ost of the German Bundestag. 

Thanks completely to Doug, Commentary/University won two "National Communicator" Awards of Distinction. 

How I came to work with Doug in the first place says a great deal about his character.  "Commentary" was originally produced in the early 1990s, when Radio/TV/Film students intrigued by my classroom rants about the need to create grassroots media to challenge the corporate behemoths, "challenged" me to start a campus program. The University administration hated the program from the beginning, in large part because Mr. Mather and I had the tendency to tell the truth and name names. Thankfully Mr. Mather had a great deal of credibility with the administrators, and I am convinced that it was only his presence that kept us on the air in the 1993-1995 range. In 1996 I suspended production of Commentary to run for the 54th assembly district, which I lost. I gave up on trying to bring Commentary back, in large part because by that time I was chair of a large and unwieldy Department of Communication and I no longer wanted to have to deal with administrative hostility. 

Then sometime in 1998 I got a call from Doug Freshner. I had met him only a few times at campus events, but he told me that he was a big fan of the old Commentary. He wondered if I would be interested in bringing it back. Doug was highly articulate about the role of--and need for--grassroots news media in places like northeast Wisconsin. His enthusiasm about that topic actually fired me up to want to work with him. He told me he had a studio in Dempsey Hall. I asked him if he was concerned about the harassment we would inevitably receive from the administrators, but he told me not to worry about it. To make a long story short, the programs Mr. Mather and I ended up doing with Doug were just incredible. Mr. Mather and I enjoyed every single moment we got to work with Doug Freshner. The quality of our programs was so high that, even when the administrators eventually forced Doug out of his studio, Mr. Mather and I were able to get student producers to take it on for another year or so. 

Doug Freshner hard at work in the studio around 2002.

For me Doug Freshner was like a local version of the great George Stoney, the "father of public access television" who understood that the media airwaves belong to the people, and that audiovisual technology should never be monopolized by for-profit corporations. Stoney once said: 

We look on cable as a way of encouraging public action, not just access. Social change comes with a combination of use of media and people getting out on the streets or getting involved. And we find that if people make programs together and put them on the local channel, that gets them involved.

Neither "Commentary" nor "University" had the reach of any mainstream cable television program. But did they provoke involvement and action? Absolutely. Good evidence of that is how hard upper level administrators worked to undermine or ban the program. Even better evidence is how many of Doug's interns, and students I worked with, went on and pursued careers in public service or became otherwise active in their communities.  

Every now and then Doug would post something on social media about Commentary

My favorite memory of Doug dates back to the summer of 2001. He knew that I was a great fan of Milwaukee's "Sewer Socialist" mayors of the 20th century. When I went to Doug's studio in early August of that year, Doug said, "do you think you and Mr. Mather would like to interview Frank Zeidler?"  Zeidler was the last of the Sewer Socialist mayors, serving from 1948-1960. Doug got Mayor Zeidler to agree to let us interview him in Zeidler's Milwaukee home. Zeidler was almost 90 years old at the time, yet he was the most lucid, insightful, and engaging former elected official I had ever spoken to. A few weeks after the interview he sent Doug a letter: 

September 6, 2001

Mr. Doug Freshner
Program Manager 
Electronic Media Relations 
UW Oshkosh 
Dear Mr. Freshner: 

Many thanks for the copy of the video you made of the interview of me by Tony Palmeri and Jim Mather. This video for the program "Commentary" gave me a good opportunity to air views on many subjects. I surely appreciate this. Mr. Palmeri and Mr. Mather's questioning and guiding of the discussion opened the way for responses to critical and important questions. It was a good occasion and I surely hope that the record thus made will be useful for viewers and students of local government. The University, yourself, and Mr. Palmeri and former Mayor Mather have my thanks for developing the video. I think I passed muster with my own family who viewed the presentation, though my statements could have been more clearly expressed on some topics.

The video was very well done. I will be showing it at some of the meetings I attend in Milwaukee. Best success in your work in the complex and growing world of media relations.

Cooperatively,

Frank Zeidler

Doug Freshner retired from UW Oshkosh a long time ago. We lost touch, but thanks to the wonders of social media we were able to reconnect. Occasionally we would share some memories. Back in 2013, out of nowhere, he wrote me an unsolicited endorsement on LinkedIN: "Dr. Palmeri is a master of whatever he chooses to do. He's a problem solver. We worked on a cable TV program together. He in front of the camera, and me behind in the production end. In over 100 1hour programs, he always arrived at the studio well prepared. I witnessed him take on other challenges with the same thoroughness. That's why I recommend him."

I think this post only provides a glimpse of the greatness of Doug Freshner. If someone were to ask me whose picture should be in the dictionary to illustrate the word "gentleman," I would say Doug Freshner. He was truly a gentle man, respectful of and engaged with everyone in his presence. He understood, more keenly than most, that the "behind the scenes" people are the real generators of positive change. My life changed very much as a result of my interaction with Doug--very much for the better that is. 

Thank you Doug. You made a real difference.