‘We lost a giant in Black media’: Journalist Everett Marshburn dies at 78

Anchor/Investigative Reporter

For Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist James Causey, Everett Marshburn was more than a fellow Black journalist; he was a deeply trusted mentor and friend.

“You come across a person like this once in a lifetime,” Causey said. “If you’re lucky, maybe two.

Video above: Remembering those we lost in 2026

As a belated birthday gift in what turned out to be one of the last interactions between the two, Marshburn passed along to his mentee a cherished piece of journalistic memorabilia: an original copy of “The Liberator,” a renowned abolitionist newspaper founded by William Lloyd Garrison.

“Last week, Everett decided it was time to pass the newspaper to me because it was ‘going into the right hands,'” Causey wrote in an Aug. 12 column.

He said Everett initially received the April 17, 1846 paper as a gift from Marshburn’s boss after a significant round of layoffs at their company.

“He said that his goal was to pass it on to the next person who could carry the torch forward. And so he presented that to me, and I didn’t know how significant that was at the time, because I lost him four days later,” Causey said.

Marshburn died Aug. 10, Causey said, as the two had been planning to travel to Atlanta for the annual convention for the National Association of Black Journalists. Causey said Marshburn always got to the convention early so he could spend time and share wisdom with the next generation of journalists of color.

“He always believed that it wasn’t for him to shine. It was to make others look good,” Causey said in an interview with Hearst sister station WISN Aug. 12. “One thing he believed in was really giving back to young people and instilling knowledge in them that they wouldn’t get in a classroom. He had this knowledge that he could always give to young people to help them become successful.”

During his career in Milwaukee, Marshburn was the award-winning producer behind Black Nouveau, a public affairs program dedicated to highlighting overlooked stories of Black Milwaukeeans and their role and influence in the city’s culture and community.

Like Causey, Black Nouveau host Earl Arms reflected on Marshburn’s willingness to share his experiences from a storied career in a way that made them feel like they could achieve the same success.

“The way he casually talked about working with Oprah and Johnny Unitas in the same breath would make any journalism vet feel inferior. But Everett did not come off that way,” Arms wrote in a Facebook post.

Arms said he and Marshburn had a long-standing tradition of celebrating their January birthdays by hanging out at Potawatomi to dine and watch football. Marshburn, a Morgan State University alum and Maryland native, loved his Baltimore Ravens.

“We lost a giant in Black media,” an Instagram post from the Baltimore Association of Black Journalists said. “Everett was passionate about good stories as he loved journalism and spent decades telling stories about Black people, our culture, and how everyday life impacted our communities.”

After 38 years working at Maryland Public Television, Marshburn joined Milwaukee Public Television in 2006, according to his 2024 profile inducting him into the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Chicago Midwest Chapter Silver Circle.

“He was a man that cared deeply about his work and Milwaukee. He mentored and inspired the next generation of local journalists and the students he worked with at MATC,” Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said in a statement. “His legacy is carried by all those who he inspired throughout his lifetime. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and those who loved him.”

Everett Marshbrun was 78.