Romenesko graduated from Marquette University and went to work for the Milwaukee Journal, serving as a police reporter for the newspaper. Initially repulsed by the sometimes grisly nature of his work, he went on to publish the coroner's reports of unusual deaths in a book called Death Log (1981). From 1982 to 1995 he worked as an editor for Milwaukee Magazine, where he wrote features and an award-winning column that covered the local media called "Pressroom Confidential". During this time he also taught journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He worked as an Internet reporter for the St. Paul Pioneer Press from 1996 to 1999.
