Digital Director
Hometown: Appleton, Wisconsin
Started at ABC4: August 16, 2020
Interests: Spending time with family, writing music, watching football (go Pack!), traveling, road tripping, turning off the world with Xbox or Netflix (or HBO Max, or Amazon Prime Video, or Disney +, or…..)
About Me:
Josh Rose is an Appleton, Wisconsin native. Deeply involved in the community at a young age, Josh was an award-winning competitive speaker (Forensics) at both the state and national levels. In fact, Josh’s connection to Salt Lake City is through Forensics; he represented the northern district of Wisconsin for the national forensics competition in 2004, which was held in SLC. Josh was also an active member of the Appleton Police Explorers, a member of the school band and football team, and an active member of his church.
Josh was first exposed to media not as an interviewer, but an interviewee as the youth spokesperson and vice-president of the Teen Advisory Board for YouthFutures’ Mall on a Mission. The project endeavored to transform America’s first indoor mall into the world’s first Teen Mall, between 2002-2005.
Josh graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater with a B.B.A. in Marketing. Following graduation – and with a lifetime dedicated to the arts – he pursued his dream of working in the music industry. Josh moved to NYC performing at music venues across the city and was “discovered” by Asia’s biggest producer at the time.
Josh moved to Seoul, Korea in 2010 and experienced the artist’s life in the K-Pop music industry. Not only did he focus on writing his album, but he worked with many K-Pop artists. Josh released two songs worldwide independently (Untouchable and Stay the Life), but was unable to release his long-awaited professional debut album due to contract disputes. The album, however, exists privately.
While in Korea, Josh tapped into his Forensics experience while continuing to develop his technical writing and critical thinking skills as a Debate, Model UN, and Mock Trial coach and social studies educator. He also co-founded and managed the country’s largest lounge and entertainment venue, Liberty Night and Day.
After returning to the U.S. in late 2017, Josh was offered an opportunity to develop the Digital News Department for WFRV. Within the first two years in that role, Josh established the WFRV digital department as an award-winning operation. Digital initiatives Josh has led include the WFRV Digital Center, the 5 Critical Questions project, the Center Stage High School Musical Theater project, digital exclusive stories, the Game ‘N Culture show, Alexa, Mobile App push notifications, Simple Tech gear for digital reporters, a digital staffing plan, digital news/operations standards and practices, and more.
Josh has been recognized at the national level by Nexstar Media Group General Managers for the Snow Globe digital-first newsroom realignment plan. Josh also serves on the Nexstar Media Group Digital Task Force Committee.
In August of 2020, Josh accepted a promotion within Nexstar Nation to lead the digital news/operations team at ABC4.com in Salt Lake City, Utah. Though a tough decision to leave home again, Josh and his family are excited for the new adventure and grateful to be able to continue working for Nexstar!
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/joshrosemusic
