Stephanie Rissler started at SDPB as a videographer/editor covering the legislature. “I wore many hats during my career: reporter/journalist, camera operator, sports reporter, radio announcer, fundraiser, public speaker, advocate, researcher. Whatever was asked of me, I was happy to step up. I’m honored to have been given so many opportunities.”
In her 23 years at SDPB, Rissler amassed countless lasting memories. “People who crossed my path and changed my life are the most memorable interviews,” says Rissler. “Dallas Dietrich, from the Black Hills, was in a car accident that killed his children and paralyzed Dallas. He took tragedy and turned it into triumph by helping others. Meeting and interviewing Dallas changed my life forever.”
Moderating candidate debates and interviewing political leaders, Rissler met hundreds of South Dakota politicians. “Meeting George McGovern was exciting,” says Rissler. “Governor Frank Farrar is a wonderful man. Covering former governor Bill Janklow’s death and as he laid in state was a somber moment.”
Rissler has had a front seat to history as it happens. “The weeks after 9/11 and SDPB’s breaking coverage during that difficult time was scary,” says Rissler. “But I also felt a sense of duty to those who turned to SDPB, and I’m honored to have been part of the team able to do that.”
Rissler says she worked to ensure certain topics were integral to the network’s narrative, like human trafficking, cyber-bulling, and caring for aging South Dakotans.
She credits Vanished South Dakota, the documentary about once-thriving ghost towns, as her most memorable SDPB moment. “In my travels across the state over the past 20+ years, I learned of so many towns that no longer exist. It was an intense two years researching, interviewing, traveling, writing and editing. It was one of the most rewarding programs I have ever been part of.”
Fittingly, Rissler’s epilogue at SDPB is a South Dakota Focus program featuring healthcare providers’ experiences from the front lines of COVD-19. “One of the elements I’ve always enjoyed about the show is giving individuals a vehicle to talk about issues important to them,” says Rissler. “I never tried to paraphrase an interviewee’s positions. I invited them to sit next to me on the set and talk in detail, not in soundbites.”
Rissler says she’s thankful for the courage shown by her interviewees, many of whom were not accustomed to being on TV. “They gave their time, as well as expertise, research, and the trust to help me tell their stories.” And she’s grateful to viewers—both fans and detractors. “Everyone who wrote to say they liked or disliked a show, questioned a statement, gave a topic suggestion – their feedback helped me set the bar high and keep it high. I kept every letter and email: good, bad and silly.”
Rissler admits leaving SDPB is bittersweet. “I do leave SDPB with a heavy heart. I love what I have been able to do for so many years and the SDPB team members. But it’s time to spread my wings, learn new things, and take part in new opportunities. And while travel has lessened during the past year, that hasn’t always been the case. Travel and live TV have meant I’ve missed a lot of my kids’ special moments and activities. Travel and work had pushed my family to the back burner, and we decided that life is too short. A new career allows me more time at home with family, which I am looking forward to the most.”
Gracious to the last, Rissler also credits her colleagues. “My time at SDPB would not have been as successful or nearly as fun without the team that worked alongside me. Moments of success were only possible due to the great team holding SDPB up. Even more important, those moments that seemed like failure, it was the same SDPB colleagues that helped me shake it off, helped me to do better, work harder, and remind me that those were not failures but career lessons for all of us. I started at SDPB as a newly married, very young lady looking to change the world (or at least South Dakota) through TV. I raised myself and three babies during my time at SDPB and in the end, it was SDPB that changed my life and for that I am forever grateful. I’ll continue to cheer on the great men and women who work so hard every day for SDPB – but now, from MY living room! And I leave with a quote from Fred Rogers, one of my favorite PBS icons: ‘Often when you think you are at the end of something, you are at the beginning of something else.’”
