Phil Bremen

Phil Blumenshine graduated from Washington High School in 1966, and even by then had already made a name for himself as a tremendous orator. He was a champion broadcaster on the Forensics (Speech) Team, making it to the state contest. He also worked for Peoria stations during his high school years as a reporter.

Blumenshine then attended the University of Missouri, graduating in 1970 with a B.S. in journalism. After graduation he worked for a time in Chicago in the campaign office of Adlai Stevenson III. With his name now changed to Phil Bremen, he moved onto Indianapolis (1970-1973), then Minneapolis (1973-1975), then back to Indianapolis (1975-1979).

In 1979 Bremen took a job with the NBC network in Miami, Florida, and then ended up being a foreign correspondent. During his eight years as an international reporter, Phil had to cover war zones, and got to interview dignitaries such as Fidel Castro, Jimmy Carter, & Yassir Arafat, among others. He made the first news report from El Salvador when Americans were murdered by the government in 1980, and his reporting in Iraq forced him to be banned from the country.

From 1987-1997 Bremen was back stateside as a news anchor in both New Jersey and Indiana, and in 1997 began a four-year stint as the press secretary for Indiana Governor Frank O’Bannon.

After his press secretary duties were fulfilled, Bremen spent an 18-year career at Ball State University, retiring in 2019. Bremen was an associate professor emeritus at Ball State, where he chaired the news concentration in the Department of Telecommunications.

Bremen was the recipient of the Washington Historical Society’s Roots Award in 2019.