By Miranda Donnell | BG Falcon Media intern
A 1977 graduate of Bowling Green State University, Bill Step didn’t just leave his mark as a student journalist — he helped create lasting opportunities for others. As a co-founder of the Bowling Green News Alumni Society (BGNAS), Bill brought together alumni from the BG News and Falcon Media to support current students. During his time as president of BGNAS in 2016, he was instrumental in launching the Terry Goodman Memorial Scholarship, which honors a fellow alum and provides financial aid to journalism students each year.
During his time at BGSU, Bill worked with the BG News for 3.5 years, moving his way up to sports editor his junior year, and executive sports editor his senior year. Spending all of his free time covering and writing stories for the BG News, Bill said some of his fondest college memories come from the talented people he worked with and the strong sense of camaraderie that the BG News created.
In 2002, Bill, along with Jim Tinker and Bob Bortel, co-founded the BGNAS after recognizing a growing need for a reconnecting point for BG News Alums, creating a community that brought former students back to campus while also supporting current students. The vision for BGNAS was not only about alumni engagement but also about giving back to current students. This fueled the idea of creating scholarships for journalism students.
While serving as President of BGNAS, Bill was instrumental in the creation of the Terry Goodman Memorial Scholarship. Goodman worked for Bill while he was the sports editor of the BG News, and Goodman then went on to become sports editor himself.
“He (Goodman) was a very talented guy,” Bill said. “He went on, after college, to the Lorain Journal and had a very distinguished career.”
Goodman passed away from cancer in 1996. The scholarship honors his memory and has been awarded annually since 2017 to a student involved in BG Falcon Media.
During his presidency, Bill also helped in creating a mentoring program that paired alumni with Falcon Media staff in a one-on-one setting. This established support for students, as well as early networking.
Bill started his career in Journalism, working for daily newspapers in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Columbus, Ohio after college. He went on to become the advertising manager at The Ohio State University before founding his company, Estep Media Solutions, in 2012.
“The thing about journalism is you learn to write and communicate, and that can be applied in many different areas.” Bill said about making the shift from journalism into website design.
Estep Media Solutions is a website design firm specializing in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), logo design, and branding. His firm gained statewide and national recognition before Bill retired in 2023. He attributes the BG News for the skills needed for his success.
“The communication skills that I was able to hone while working at the BG News were immeasurable for me.” he said.