Universal Ramblings

She is the editor and founder of UW-Milwaukee’s national award-winning online newspaper, Frontpage Milwaukee. Her Student coursework on FPM was named the best college in-depth online reporting in the country by the Society of Professional Journalists in 2008. She is also the founder and advisor of the Minority Media Association of UWM (MMA).

She is a third-generation newspaper reporter in her family.

McBride is married to Paul Bucher, a former Waukesha County District Attorney.

Jessica Mcbride’s Affair with Police Chief

During her stint at the Journal Sentinel, McBride worked in the Waukesha bureau and later moved to the downtown newsroom, where she covered the Milwaukee Police Department. When editors learned that she was dating Bucher, McBride was precluded by the company’s ethics policy from covering stories involving the prosecutor, according to Journal Sentinel Editor Martin Kaiser.

When journalist Jessica McBride penned a glowing, 5,400-word profile of Police Chief Edward A. Flynn for Milwaukee Magazine earlier this year, many in the Milwaukee Police Department jokingly dismissed it as a love letter to the chief.

Sometime earlier this year, Flynn and McBride struck up a romantic relationship.

Asked about the affair, the 61-year-old chief issued a statement Thursday acknowledging his indiscretion – without mentioning McBride, 39, by name.

“I have done my wife and family a great wrong, and I profoundly regret the hurt I have inflicted on them and others affected by my conduct,” Flynn wrote. “I accept the personal and public consequences of my private behavior. I have damaged my public reputation and violated the trust and love of my family.”

McBride – a journalism lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a former Journal Sentinel reporter – has refused to respond to numerous messages about the liaison. McBride has been a prominent figure in the community, serving as a talk-show host and political blogger.