\n\n\n\n
2023<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nIn 2023, Wisconsin Watch published 78 major reports. Our staff is larger and more experienced than it was a year ago \u2014 and it shows. Some of these stories were hard-hitting investigations. Others were pieces that held the powerful accountable. Other reports gave context to an urgent or complicated issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Highlights from 2023 include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Exploring what gender-affirming care means to Wisconsin families<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Phoebe Petrovic wrote a series of stories<\/a> explaining what gender-affirming care looks like in Wisconsin. Her feature article profiled three transgender youths, and their families,<\/a> and she also wrote explanatory pieces on what gender-affirming care looks like in Wisconsin<\/a> and how a transgender bill hearing was full of misinformation<\/a>. Phoebe also got exclusive access when Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a trans youth care ban<\/a>.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Wisconsin](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wisconsinwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Ratcliffs_01.jpg?resize=782%2C521&quality=100&ssl=1\")
Wisconsin state Rep. Melissa Ratcliff, D-Cottage Grove, is photographed with her son Dan on July 24, 2023, in Madison, Wis. Dan came out as transgender five years ago and has since received gender-affirming care. \u201cI\u2019ve been much more confident with myself,\u201d he said. (Drake White-Bergey \/ Wisconsin Watch)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAfter Phoebe’s first story ran, Rep. Melissa Ratcliff, D-Cottage Grove, entered it into the legislative record on Oct. 4, 2023 during a recent debate on the anti-transgender health care bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Families and medical providers said it accurately reflected their perspective and experience. One provider wrote: \u201cThank you for this thoughtful, in-depth, and important reporting! I’ve heard from a number of folks that thought that your work was right on.\u201d
And one poster on Reddit said: “”As always, I appreciate the fact based journalism from Wisconsin Watch. The article provides important context about the medical study surrounding youth healthcare and the originators of this bill.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Milwaukee Public Schools ends relationship with Gerard Randall and Milwaukee Education Partnership <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDays after WPR and Wisconsin Watch reported<\/a> that Gerard Randall, executive director and sole employee of the nonprofit Milwaukee Education Partnership<\/a>, was paid more than $64,000 last year for work that was not completed, Milwaukee Public Schools ended it\u2019s decade-long affiliation with the organization.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen contacted by the WPR reporter Corri Hess, several high-profile officials said the nonprofit had listed them in tax filings as board officers without their knowledge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Nov. 30, 2023, Randall resigned as RNC host committee secretary, after the questionable history of his nonprofit came to light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lockdown conditions examined at three Wisconsin state prisons<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Wisconsin Watch and New York Times reporter Mario Koran reported earlier this year on a months-long lockdown at Waupun Correctional Institution associated with at least two prisoner deaths. In mid-November Gov. Tony Evers announced a plan to ease movement restrictions.<\/a>
In addition, in early-November, Democratic lawmakers introduced a sweeping legislative package<\/a> to address deteriorating conditions in Wisconsin prisons after we reported that chronic staffing shortages led to months-long lockdowns and a federal lawsuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMario’s reporting from Wisconsin Watch and The New York Times:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- Inside Waupun Correctional Institution\u2019s \u2018nightmare\u2019 lockdown<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Second prisoner dies during Waupun Correctional Institution lockdown; restrictions linger at two additional prisons<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"Former](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wisconsinwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Lockdowns.jpg?resize=782%2C521&quality=100&ssl=1\")
Talib Akbar speaks during an Oct. 10, 2023, protest at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis. WISDOM, a statewide faith-based social justice organization, organized the protest. Akbar was incarcerated for 20 years before his release in 2013 and spent at least 10 stints in solitary confinement, including a stretch lasting nearly a year. WISDOM and partner organizations called on the short-staffed Wisconsin Department of Corrections to lift restrictions on prisoner movement, reduce the prison population and invest in community-based programs that aid prisoner rehabilitation. (Meryl Hubbard \/ Wisconsin Watch)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\nOn Nov. 15th, Mario told the Wisconsin Watch staff: “I was talking to a prisoner at Stanley (Correctional Institution). He told me yesterday that they\u2019ve gotten word that at the end of the month, schedules will go back to normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was like, “Well it\u2019s nice to hear that the story maybe had an impact.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said: \u201cThere is no maybe. It had a clear, direct result. It literally changed everything, almost overnight. You did that, and I thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Investigating forced labor<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nZhen Wang\u2019s tip-of-the-spear story on how Milwaukee Tool is using forced Chinese prison labor earning pennies a day<\/a> to make gloves for the Brookfield-based company has gotten the attention of the State Department, which contacted the U.S.-based wife of a dissident featured in the story. Recently, Walmart announced it was suspending sale of the gloves at its stores or on its website.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe investigation also prompted a bipartisan congressional investigation into Milwaukee Tool\u2019s supply chain practices. In a July 10 letter to Milwaukee Tool Group President Steve Richman, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, and U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, commission co-chair, wrote that the use of forced Chinese labor violates international human rights standards, China\u2019s international obligations and U.S. law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe raise these concerns after reading an investigative report by Wisconsin Watch which detailed how political prisoners in Chishan Prison were forced to work against their will, with little pay, to produce gloves for your company,\u201d said the letter<\/a>, which outlined questions for Milwaukee Tool to answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSpeaking July 11 at a commission hearing called \u201cCorporate Complicity: Subsidizing the PRC\u2019s Human Rights Violations<\/a>,\u201d Smith called the findings from the Wisconsin Watch report \u201cvery, very damaging.\u201d (quote is at 1:39:45)<\/p>\n\n\n\nThis story won top honors for best investigative journalism<\/a> in the 2023 Nonprofit News Awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wisconsinwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Shi_Minglei_interior.jpg?resize=782%2C521&quality=100&ssl=1\")
Shi Minglei, the wife of an imprisoned Chinese human rights activist Cheng Yuan, fled to the United States in 2021 and now lives in Minnesota\u2019s Twin Cities. She is calling for Brookfield-Wis.-based Milwaukee Tool to stop sourcing gloves made from forced prison labor in China. A Milwaukee Tool spokesperson says the company has \u201cfound no evidence to support\u201d allegations about forced labor. Shi is shown in Minneapolis on Feb. 19, 2023. (Ariana Lindquist for Wisconsin Watch)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Internal probes at the Sheboygan Police Department<\/strong><\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\nIn a joint investigation with The Sheboygan Press<\/a>, Phoebe Petrovic uncovered a long-secret series of internal probes at the Sheboygan Police Department that found a sprawling sexual harassment scandal involving 1 out of every 5 officers in the department. The reporting found female officers were treated more harshly than male colleagues participating in the same behavior and that the human resources director and the head of the city\u2019s Police and Fire Commission were largely left in the dark about the allegations. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe stories prompted the resignation of the most egregious offending officer two days after the story broke, an anti-abuse group called for accountability, community members voiced their anger, and city officials vowed to better respond to and prevent such misconduct. In addition, Phoebe received several messages of gratitude from Sheboygan citizens. This was a NEW News Lab story<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThis series was a finalist for the best collaboration<\/a> from the 2023 LION Awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\nVoting systems called out for gaps<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nMatthew DeFour found that the system for removing people found incompetent to vote had several gaps<\/a>, leaving openings for election deniers to claim widespread voter fraud.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe story featured a developmentally disabled voter whose name is on the state\u2019s ineligible voter list, but has somehow voted 16 times since 2010. His mother said she never intended to have her son\u2019s voting rights taken away and he is now in the process of fixing that in the court system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This story was cited in an October 2023 co-sponsorship memo on a bill that makes changes to how those voters are tracked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kiel residents rebuke far-right school officials<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nIn a three-part series<\/a>, Mario Koran explored the roots of racial and gender-related backlash that gripped Kiel, Wisconsin. The turmoil began when the school district investigated students\u2019 reports of being bullied over their race<\/a> or gender identity, and it escalated into bomb threats that shuttered schools<\/a>, halted in-person government meetings and canceled the Memorial Day parade. <\/p>\n\n\n\nAfter two stories were published, parents rallied to prevent the ouster of a popular superintendent <\/a>who a small but vocal group of parents targeted. Two far-right school board members resigned, restoring the board to a more moderate majority. This was one of our NEW News Lab stories. <\/p>\n\n\n\nIn January, we received a letter from Kiel resident Oliver Kornetzke to express his \u201csatisfaction and gratitude\u201d for the reporting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHis reporting, without a doubt, helped save our community by allowing the citizens of Kiel – armed with the truth – pull away from the grips of a small fringe group of very hateful individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI firmly believe that without Mario\u2019s work, the situation in Kiel would very much look different. Our community could very much be in a much darker place where misinformation and lies run rampant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This series was done as part of the NEW News Lab<\/a> and won the Accountability Award<\/a> from the 2023 LION awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wisconsinwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Wempners.jpg?resize=782%2C521&quality=100&ssl=1\")
Amy and Dan Wempner pose with their 18-year-old son Armond at their home in Kiel, Wis., on June 2, 2022. After discovering racist Snapchat messages directed at Armond before his junior year of high school, the family pushed the Kiel Area School District to respond. A plan to offer anti-racism training prompted backlash from white parents who accused the school of promoting critical race theory, an academic concept that conservative activists have politically weaponized. (Lianne Milton for Wisconsin Watch)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wisconsinites pay the price for pollution they didn\u2019t cause<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nIntern Erin Gretzinger revealed how state laws do not protect property owners when they unwittingly buy land that is contaminated<\/a>, later highlighting a bipartisan effort to change that<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Great Lakes pollution threatens Ojibwe treaty rights to fish<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nBennet Goldstein, reporting with the Mississippi River Ag & Water Desk, produced a three-part series and photos exploring how growing water contamination in the Great Lakes is eroding the Ojibwe Tribe\u2019s treaty fishing rights.<\/a>
After this story published, a professor at the Medill School of Journalism and Center for Native American & Indigenous Research at Northwestern University shared the following message: <\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI just wanted to tell you what a really, really fine job you did on these stories. The organization and writing was terrific, but the framing! You really captured and communicated an Indigenous world view in a way I rarely (if ever) see in mainstream reporting. I delivered a speech today to an environmental group and shared a link to that story and told them to read it before they did collaborative work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Really, really well done. I\u2019m going to share it with my colleagues at Medill as an example. Thank you for the work you put into your report. It definitely showed.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wisconsinwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fishing_221115_11-min.jpg?resize=782%2C521&quality=100&ssl=1\")
Commercial fisher Donny Livingston, a citizen of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, picks cisco from gillnets after lifting them from Lake Superior onto the fish tug, Ava June, during a fishing run near the Apostle Islands on Nov. 15, 2022. Ojibwe tribes retain a treaty-guaranteed right to fish within portions of three Great Lakes and millions of acres of northwestern Michigan and its Upper Peninsula, northern Wisconsin and northeastern Minnesota. But climate change threatens many species, and contaminants long released into the Great Lakes, the health of people who eat them \u2014 disproportionately harming tribal citizens. (Bennet Goldstein \/ Wisconsin Watch)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wisconsin Supreme Court race: Anti-trans ads<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nA story written by reporter Phoebe Petrovic explained how anti-trans ads that favored state Supreme Court candidate Daniel Kelly spread misinformation and peddled fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This story received feedback from Wisconsinites, along with journalists at the national level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Sheboygan resident shared local anti-trans sentiments spreading around in her community to show the \u201ctrickle down\u201d effect of the movement against trans kids, thanking Wisconsin Watch for informing the public on misinformation.
This story was also shared on Twitter by journalists Erin Reed<\/a>, Melissa Gira Grant<\/a> and Katelyn Burns. <\/a> Grant applauded Wisconsin Watch\u2019s coverage, calling it \u201cthe most thorough coverage of anti-trans politics\u201d in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fact-checking claims<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nOur fact-checking project <\/a>with Gigafact continues to produce some of WisconsinWatch.org\u2019<\/a>s most-read content. In 2023, intern Erin Gretzinger and freelancers Tom Kertscher and Jacob Alabab-Moser produced 132 fact briefs in the first six months of the year. In May, three of our top 10 stories were fact briefs.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn February, we published a fact brief fact checking a claim that state Supreme Court candidate Daniel Kelly said supporting same-sex marriage \u201crobs marriage of any meaning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This fact brief was cited in an attack ad on Kelly. It was also cited in a Vanity Fair piece that outlined the historic Supreme Court election in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n2022<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wisconsin Watch expanded in 2022 to bring Wisconsinites more news they need on issues they care about. We added a three-person statehouse team to investigate threats to Wisconsin\u2019s democracy, which includes an Oshkosh-based reporter who focuses on workplace democracy. We hired a reporter to cover western Wisconsin as part of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk. We added a second reporter in Milwaukee to further our partnership with Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, fueled by the American Journalism Project, to rebuild local news in Milwaukee and statewide. We also expanded our business team to add expertise in audience, fundraising, operations and finance. We joined the Associated Press to bring readers more daily news to complement Wisconsin Watch\u2019s deep-dive stories. We added a fact-checking feature in partnership with Gigafact. And we increasingly publish stories from trusted partners at the NEW (Northeast Wisconsin) News Lab, Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk and other nonprofits such as the Energy News Network, Grist and Kaiser Health News. An estimated 49.9 million people saw our stories on WisconsinWatch.org and in the 280 news outlets that picked up our reports \u2014 double our audience from 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Highlights from 2022 include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democracy on the Ballot<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIn 2022 we produced the award-winning Democracy on the Ballot<\/a> series to alert voters to critical issues at play in the 2022 election. We showed how gerrymandering produced even more skewed voting maps than ever. We exposed which candidates had \u201cstop the steal\u201d sentiments \u2014 and how they hid those statements from voters. We showed how thousands of jail inmates are eligible to vote, but many jails don\u2019t help them cast ballots. Wisconsin Watch examined claims of voter and election fraud \u2014 used by activists to urge mass purging of voter rolls \u2014 but found only a smattering of questionable votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wisconsin curbs deadly driving<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nJonah Chester investigated<\/a> how state bureaucracy hinders local efforts to curb deadly driving on urban highways in Milwaukee. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation later approved plans to reconfigure part of Milwaukee\u2019s Appleton Avenue, a dangerous urban highway. Calling it a victory for pedestrian safety, Milwaukee Ald. Michael Murphy said WisDOT typically does not support such projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Attack on \u2018critical race theory\u2019<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIn 2022, Mario Koran exposed<\/a> the roots of culture wars over racial discrimination and bullying of a trans student that gripped Kiel, Wisconsin. Citizens fought back; two school board members who fanned the flames of the conflict resigned. \u201cI cannot overstate the importance to and impact his reporting has had on my own community,\u201d one reader wrote. \u201cPrior to his reporting, there was virtually no coverage on the facts. Misinformation and lies ran rampant with negative real-world consequences for both our public institutions and local democracy. \u2026 His reporting, without a doubt, helped save our community by allowing the citizens of Kiel \u2014 armed with the truth \u2014 to pull away from the grip of a small fringe group of very hateful individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Open and Shut podcast<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe Open and Shut<\/a> podcast hosted by Phoebe Petrovic exposed the gaps in the U.S. justice system that allow its most powerful actors to use nearly unchecked authority to win questionable cases, convict the innocent and pervert the pursuit of justice. The podcast from Wisconsin Watch and Wisconsin Public Radio draws on 20 years of reporting on Wisconsin prosecutors who misused their authority with tragic consequences. One listener from Appleton told WPR the podcast was \u201cincredible investigative journalism\u201d that brought \u201cthings to light that happened right in my front yard!\u201d Numerous people have contacted Wisconsin Watch with allegations similar to those described in the podcast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fact Briefs<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIn 2022, Wisconsin Watch launched Gigafact fact briefs, 140-word fact checks that use a \u201cyes\/no\u201d format to answer questions. Fact briefs<\/a> are designed to bolster correct claims made on social media and to debunk false ones to head off the spread of misinformation. We published nearly 200 of these briefs in 2022, producing critical fact checks just before Wisconsin\u2019s high-stakes gubernatorial and U.S. Senate elections. These bite-sized fact checks became among the most read items on WisconsinWatch.org.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Flawed Forensics<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThis award winning series profiled an Alaska couple<\/a> accused by Dr. Barbara Knox of abusing their 3-week-old daughter, who suffered from significant birth injuries. That was followed days later by the news that Knox was resigning from her position as Alaska\u2019s top child abuse pediatrician<\/a>. Knox had been on leave after allegations of bullying and misdiagnosis<\/a> \u2014 similar to charges made during her tenure at the University of Wisconsin. After we profiled another case<\/a> in which Knox accused a defendant of abuse, Joshua Gehde of Madison, Wis., got new lawyers who volunteered to file a federal petition for his release. And the Alaska family sued Knox<\/a> for her alleged wrongful diagnosis, which caused the couple to lose custody of their two young children for nearly a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wisconsinwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/knox_illustration_published-1.jpg?resize=782%2C535&quality=100&ssl=1\")
Former University of Wisconsin Dr. Barbara Knox has resigned as medical director of Alaska\u2019s forensic child abuse clinic. Knox has been on leave from Alaska CARES since the fall after a wave of departures that included every member of the medical staff other than Knox. (Claire DeRosa \/ Wisconsin Watch and University of Wisconsin file photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nFocus on refugees <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
After Zhen Wang reported this story as part of the NEW News Lab: \u2018They can bring so much\u2019: Despite barriers, Afghan evacuees enrich Wisconsin\u2019s workforce<\/a>, a dental clinic that serves refugees reached out and asked for paper copies to distribute to clients. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2021<\/h2>\n\n\n\nNearly 200 Wisconsin officers back on the job after being fired or forced out<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nRep. Moore Omokunde uses Wandering Cops article as supportive information to continue pressing for a bill that creates a freeze period during which police cannot avoid scrutiny by switching departments<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Could \u2018baby bonds\u2019 close Wisconsin\u2019s racial wealth gap?<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSen. Melissa Agard had no intention of proposing baby bonds when she was interviewed in the spring of 2021 for this story, and then in summer 2021 it became part of a Democratic economic security proposal. We updated the story just before publication to reflect the news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FEMA offers generous funeral aid to those grieving COVID-19 deaths. Getting it isn\u2019t easy.<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe subject of our story about funeral aid got her financial aid after our story ran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I cried for days\u2019: Wisconsin blocks pandemic payments for federal disability aid recipients<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAfter Bram Sable-Smith, the WPR Mike Simonson Memorial Investigative Reporting Fellow, reported on Wisconsin blocking disability payments during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sen. Baldwin, Sen. Moore, Sen. Kind and Sen. Pocan<\/a> wrote to the U.S. Department of Labor to provide clarity about the eligibility of Wisconsin recipients of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which was provided in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. This occurred after Wisconsin Secretary of Workforce Development (DWD) Caleb Frostman requested guidance from DOL on the same issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wisconsinwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/201117_BRAM01.jpg?resize=771%2C513&quality=100&ssl=1\")
Bram Sable-Smith, WPR Mike Simonson Memorial Investigative Reporting Fellow, reports from the COVID unit at the UW Hospital on Nov. 17, 2020. Smith was awarded a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for his series Costly Care, which investigated the impact of medical debt on people in Wisconsin and looked at how and why hospitals have continued to sue patients, even during a pandemic. Credit:<\/span> Angela Major \/ WPR<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Impact from the Cannabis Question Series<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wisconsinwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Leafline_Labs.jpg?resize=1170%2C780&quality=100&ssl=1\")
<\/a>Cannabis is seen growing in Leafline Labs headquarters, in Cottage Grove, Minn., April 18, 2019. The 42,000-square-foot indoor cultivation and production facility is used to grow marijuana for medical uses and create various pharmaceutical cannabis products. Credit:<\/span> Emily Hamer \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nIn 2019 Wisconsin Watch reported what would happen if the state were to legalize marijuana. Gov. Tony Evers proposed recreation marijuana legalization in his 2021-2023 biennial budget proposal, and our reporting was cited in news articles about Ever’s actions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
20<\/strong>20<\/h2>\n\n\n\nIn 2020, Wisconsin Watch produced 81 major reports \u2014 nearly three times as many stories as a typical year. Forced by the pandemic to abandon the offices at the UW-Madison journalism school in mid-March 2020, the Wisconsin Watch staff worked tirelessly to investigate disinformation<\/a>, Wisconsin\u2019s failing unemployment system<\/a>, the impact of crushing medical debt<\/a>, Wisconsin\u2019s often-flawed response to the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>, and problems in the state\u2019s election system<\/a>. In the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, we examined calls for racial justice and how police can better respond to protests<\/a> to minimize violence, what \u201cdefunding\u201d the police<\/a> would look like in Milwaukee, the factors leading to the deadly protest in Kenosha<\/a> \u2014 including the decision by police to work with armed militia members<\/a>. These stories were picked up by 401 news outlets, reaching an estimated 43 million people. The Milwaukee Press Club has awarded Wisconsin Watch 12 awards for our 2020 coverage<\/a>, and along with WPR, we were honored with a regional Edward R. Murrow Award<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\nAlso in 2020, Wisconsin Watch and the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service launched the Google News Initiative-funded News414<\/a> project. This innovative free news-by-text service helps fill information and accountability gaps in Milwaukee\u2019s Black- and brown-majority neighborhoods. News414 provides information to 2,100 subscribers, helping vulnerable residents navigate often-complicated systems to access services they need. In the early months of News414, the effort helped a father get free beds for his children. <\/p>\n\n\n\nInformation provided by News414 also has also helped residents access thousands of dollars in rental assistance and provided tips for staving off eviction. \u201cThank you for all the information and supporting the community,\u201d one renter texted last year after receiving $1,420 in rental assistance. In recent months, News414 began translating texts, social media outreach and stories into Spanish<\/a>. These provided crucial information to residents of Milwaukee and statewide, including that undocumented state residents are eligible for significant pandemic-related rental assistance<\/a>, and that proof of legal residency or insurance are not required to get a COVID-19 vaccination<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018You\u2019ve been served\u2019: Wisconsin hospitals sue patients over debt \u2014 even during pandemic<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wisconsinwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Froedert_03-1.jpg?resize=1170%2C780&quality=100&ssl=1\")
<\/a>Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee is seen on Nov. 1, 2019. Credit:<\/span> Gretchen Brown \/ WPR<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nBram Sable-Smith reported in April 2020 on how Wisconsin hospitals were suing patients over medical debts even during the pandemic. Five days later, two of those hospitals dismissed<\/a> some of those suits, and members of the public offered to help those who had been sued by their health care providers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Study: Poll closings, COVID-19 fears, kept many Milwaukee voters away<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nA press release<\/a> put out by the mayors of five Wisconsin cities cited a Wisconsin Watch tweet<\/a> of Dee J. Hall’s report covering Milwaukee residents who were dissuaded to vote in the April 7th election. The mayors of Madison, Kenosha, Green Bay, Milwaukee and Racine “successfully secured a combined $6.3 million in nonprofit grants to fund the \u201cWisconsin Safe Voting Plan.\u201d The grants, awarded by the nonpartisan Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), will help each municipality administer elections this year in the midst of the deadly coronavirus pandemic,” and used the tweet to show how not to run an election in Wisconsin during a pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blacks arrested for pot possession at four times the rate of whites in Wisconsin<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nA Wisconsin Watch report was cited in a dissent issued by Justice Brian Hagedorn to the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision<\/a> overturning the state’s Stay at Home order extension for COVID-19. Hagedorn compared the broad authority that Gov. Tony Evers had to enact the order to that of prosecutors, who \u201care given vast discretion in choosing whether to file a criminal complaint, and which crimes to charge.\u201d As noted in the story, the Dane County district attorney directed law enforcement not to bring him cases based on possession of small amounts of marijuana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wisconsinwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/lecheros_postcard.jpg?resize=1170%2C1638&quality=100&ssl=1\")
\u201cLos Lecheros\u201d (Dairy Farmers) was co-produced with Jim Cricchi and Susan Peters of Twelve Letter Films in 2017. It has screened at 25 film festivals, made the IDA shortlist and won a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nLos Lecheros<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe Wisconsin Humanities Council is using Los Lecheros<\/a> (Dairy Farmers), our 21-minute documentary, as a catalyst for community immigration discussions. A blog post<\/a> about their efforts reads, “Who are these undocumented people? We need the story. Los Lecheros takes you into a Wisconsin dairy barn to talk to undocumented workers and the farmer who employs them.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\nDozens of people attended the community events in Dubuque, Verona and Darlington, with additional events scheduled. Some grew up on dairy farms and shared a similar plight in having difficulty finding people able and interested in farming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blacks arrested for pot possession at four times the rate of whites in Wisconsin<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAfter Wisconsin Watch reported in 2019 about how black people are arrested at four times the rate of white people in Wisconsin, Sen. Fred A. Risser along with Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and Reps. Sheila Stubbs, David Crowley and Dave Considine introduced legislation that would decriminalize 25 grams or less of marijuana in the state of Wisconsin. In his press release<\/a>, Risser cited Wisconsin Watch\u2019s report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n2018<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nAsian restaurants and Chicago employment agencies accused of exploiting Latino workers in Midwest<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wisconsinwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/TRAFFICKINGarriaga-1.jpg?resize=771%2C477&quality=100&ssl=1\")
Alexandra Arriaga \/ Chicago Sun-Times<\/p>Mattresses, furniture and litter are scattered below the 18th Street Bridge adjacent to Ping Tom Memorial Park in Chicago\u2019s Chinatown neighborhood. It’s here, \u201cdebajo del puente,\u201d that many Latino men who are shuffled between low-wage, long-hour jobs at Asian restaurants settle in at night when they cannot afford to stay at an employment agency or hotel. Photo taken Sept. 18, 2018. Credit:<\/span> Alex Arriaga \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe job agency in Chicago\u2019s Chinatown accused of exploiting Latino workers ceased operations under a consent decree approved by a federal court judge. The court-ordered closure came just days after the Chicago Sun-Times and Wisconsin Watch published a special report putting the spotlight on Xing Ying and other agencies accused of exploiting undocumented workers. Four days after the report was published, the U.S. Department of Labor announced an initiative to help restaurants in Wisconsin comply with wage laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How tort reform bill changed state law<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nMilwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Daniel Bice wrote a column<\/a> titled “Sen. Leah Vukmir and Democrats clash over impact of nursing home law she supported.” The column mentions Wisconsin Watch\u2019s 2011 report on tort reform law which showed how the law \u201chas made it more difficult to hold nursing homes accountable for wrongdoing by keeping this crucial evidence out of court.”<\/p>\n\n\n\nSecret cash aided politicians who rewrote Wisconsin law to block claims of lead-poisoned children<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWisconsin Watch published a report by Pawan Naidu explaining how big campaign donations increasingly influence politicians in Wisconsin. Pat Nash wrote a column<\/a>, picked up by the Baraboo News Republic and at least five other news organizations, that mentioned and quoted our secret campaign cash coverage. It read, “Big money is fighting for Republicans to hold the majority in the state legislature.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\nHow hackers could attack Wisconsin\u2019s elections and what state officials are doing about it<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wisconsinwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ELECTIONSECURITY-coburn-1.jpg?resize=771%2C514&quality=100&ssl=1\")
Coburn Dukehart \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/p>Laurie Decker, municipal clerk for the village of Little Chute, Wis., left, talks with Rita Mollen, chief election inspector, during voting at the village hall for a special election in the 1st Senate District on June 12, 2018. The village had recently retired an older model of voting machine for the newer DS200 scanner and tabulator. Credit:<\/span> Coburn Dukehart \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe Wisconsin Election Commission corrected one of the largest flaws in the state\u2019s election-security program in a unanimous vote to revise their policy for voting-machine audits. By introducing the possibility that hacked results could be detected and corrected before election results were certified, audits became a security measure for the first time. Beginning later in 2018, the commission randomly selected 5% of all voting machines statewide on the day after the November general election and instructed municipal clerks to conduct public hand counts of those machines\u2019 paper ballots in four key races. The audits were completed before election results are certified. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In previous years, Wisconsin\u2019s election officials audited only after they finalized results. This major flaw consistently put Wisconsin in the lower half of the 50 states\u2019 election security rankings. Post-election audits using paper ballots are considered critical for election security because officials have no other way to detect Election-Day computer errors. Local officials can keep software secure while it is in their possession, but they have no way to assess whether it was adequately secured before then. Lack of IT expertise and the voting-machine manufacturers\u2019 claims of proprietary secrecy prevent election officials from examining the software directly. Pre-election tests cannot prevent Election-Day computer errors or glitches, nor can they detect malicious code designed to operate only on Election Day. In August 2018, The Green Bay Press Gazette published a column<\/a> titled “Give Wisconsin Elections Commission input on election security.” The column cited Wisconsin Watch\u2019s coverage of election security in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFacing the truth behind the statistics of sexual assault<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nJamie Gilford<\/a>, Clery Program director at University of Wisconsin Police Department, wrote an email to Wisconsin Watch Managing Editor Dee J. Hall and Digital and Multimedia Director Coburn Dukehart expressing her gratitude for our report covering campus sexual assaults. Gilford\u2019s note said, “I wanted to say how much I appreciated the article you published in Madison Magazine in September. Sexual assault is always a challenging topic to cover and navigating the intersecting laws regarding report-tracking can be very disorienting for most people. I think you did an excellent job accurately explaining the data and fairly putting it into context. Quality journalism like this does much to advance our understanding of the prevalence of sexual assault in our communities, the actions we are taking to combat it, and all of the work we have left to do. As someone who also takes a professional interest in institutional transparency, thank you.”<\/p>\n\n\n\nAfter Gov. Scott Walker took office, bills moved faster through the Wisconsin Legislature<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWisconsin State Sen. Kathleen Vinehout wrote a column<\/a> about the tactics used by majority party leadership to rush bills through the Legislature in Madison. Vinehout discussed how speed sacrifices public input and prevents thoughtful debate in the lawmaking process. The column heavily cited Wisconsin Watch\u2019s coverage of the speed of lawmaking in Wisconsin. The column was picked up by news organizations across Wisconsin.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWisconsin doubles GPS monitoring despite five years of malfunctions, unnecessary jailings<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wisconsinwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/GPS-coburn-1.jpg?resize=1170%2C780&quality=100&ssl=1\")
Coburn Dukehart \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/p>Cody McCormick, 29, shows the GPS monitoring device he is required to wear as a result of a sex-related conviction while living in Minnesota. He says the device has severely impacted his life, banging up his ankle, prohibiting him from wearing shorts or swimming, tearing holes in three pairs of pants and is socially embarrassing. Credit:<\/span> Coburn Dukehart \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe Badger Herald published a column<\/a> titled “State\u2019s GPS bracelet system inefficient, ineffective in monitoring offenders.” The column heavily cited Wisconsin Watch\u2019s coverage of the state Department of Corrections\u2019 GPS monitoring program. The stories showed that five years after Wisconsin Watch first revealed<\/a> technical problems that were prompting offenders to be jailed when they had not committed any violations, some of the same problems remained.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWisconsin taxpayers lose out on millions after Gov. Scott Walker, lawmakers repeal anti-fraud law<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nRep. Lisa Subeck, D-Madison, introduced a bill to reinstate the state False Claims Act and restore the ability of a private individual or whistleblower, to bring a claim alleging Medicaid fraud. Wisconsin Watch had reported that the state was missing out on at least $11 million in reimbursements for alleged fraud after the Legislature quickly repealed the law in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n2017<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nControversial debt buyers get a break under new Wisconsin law<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wisconsinwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/DEBT-BUYERS-COBURN.jpg?resize=1170%2C780&quality=100&ssl=1\")
<\/a>Coburn Dukehart \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/p>Sandra Goodwin, 56, is photographed at her home in Stoughton, Wis., on March 25, 2016. In the summer of 2015, Goodwin was sued by a debt buyer she had never heard of, Jefferson Capital Systems. The company had purchased her debt, which originated from an online school called The College Network. Goodwin is settling the case with the help of a pro bono lawyer. She says she was legally blind at the time she signed a promissory note agreeing to pay for an online class, which she thought she had cancelled. Credit:<\/span> Coburn Dukehart \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWISDOM referenced our reporting in a July 2017 press release about the risks faced by Wisconsin consumers in regard to payday loans and called for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to issue a strong payday lending rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n2016<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nPrecious lives<\/a><\/strong> series<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nPrecious Lives was a collaborative project with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee Public Radio and 371 Productions covering gun violence on children in Milwaukee and across the state. Precious Lives received two gold awards<\/a> from the Milwaukee Press Club, top honors from the National Association of Black Journalists and was a national finalist for the prestigious Peabody Award for broadcast journalism. Precious Lives stories were shared on social media by prominent organizations and figures such as National Public Radio, Reveal, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Rep. Mark Pocan and CNN correspondent Jake Tapper. <\/strong>The project was also featured in a segment on All Things Considered<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nA tale of two states: Wisconsin trails Colorado as both cut solitary confinement<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wisconsinwatch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/SOLITARY-jenfriedbergwcij.jpg?resize=771%2C465&quality=100&ssl=1\")
<\/a>Jen Friedberg for Wisconsin Watch<\/p>This $200 million prison in Ca\u00f1on City, Colorado was opened in 2010 exclusively to house prisoners in solitary confinement. It is now vacant because of the Colorado Department of Corrections decision to severely curtail use of isolation. Officials are considering turning the 948-bed facility into a reentry center to help inmates prepare for life after prison. Photo taken Jan. 29, 2016. Credit:<\/span> Jen Friedberg \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe Wisconsin Department of Corrections proposed a program for Wisconsin inmates similar to one highlighted in a Wisconsin Watch story in which Colorado prisoners in solitary confinement are allowed up to 20 hours a week out of their cells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Strong public support, pleas from grieving family fail to move Wisconsin on gun background checks<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Exploring what gender-affirming care means to Wisconsin families<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After Phoebe’s first story ran, Rep. Melissa Ratcliff, D-Cottage Grove, entered it into the legislative record on Oct. 4, 2023 during a recent debate on the anti-transgender health care bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Families and medical providers said it accurately reflected their perspective and experience. One provider wrote: \u201cThank you for this thoughtful, in-depth, and important reporting! I’ve heard from a number of folks that thought that your work was right on.\u201d
And one poster on Reddit said: “”As always, I appreciate the fact based journalism from Wisconsin Watch. The article provides important context about the medical study surrounding youth healthcare and the originators of this bill.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Milwaukee Public Schools ends relationship with Gerard Randall and Milwaukee Education Partnership <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDays after WPR and Wisconsin Watch reported<\/a> that Gerard Randall, executive director and sole employee of the nonprofit Milwaukee Education Partnership<\/a>, was paid more than $64,000 last year for work that was not completed, Milwaukee Public Schools ended it\u2019s decade-long affiliation with the organization.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen contacted by the WPR reporter Corri Hess, several high-profile officials said the nonprofit had listed them in tax filings as board officers without their knowledge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Nov. 30, 2023, Randall resigned as RNC host committee secretary, after the questionable history of his nonprofit came to light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lockdown conditions examined at three Wisconsin state prisons<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Wisconsin Watch and New York Times reporter Mario Koran reported earlier this year on a months-long lockdown at Waupun Correctional Institution associated with at least two prisoner deaths. In mid-November Gov. Tony Evers announced a plan to ease movement restrictions.<\/a>
In addition, in early-November, Democratic lawmakers introduced a sweeping legislative package<\/a> to address deteriorating conditions in Wisconsin prisons after we reported that chronic staffing shortages led to months-long lockdowns and a federal lawsuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMario’s reporting from Wisconsin Watch and The New York Times:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- Inside Waupun Correctional Institution\u2019s \u2018nightmare\u2019 lockdown<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Second prisoner dies during Waupun Correctional Institution lockdown; restrictions linger at two additional prisons<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Talib Akbar speaks during an Oct. 10, 2023, protest at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis. WISDOM, a statewide faith-based social justice organization, organized the protest. Akbar was incarcerated for 20 years before his release in 2013 and spent at least 10 stints in solitary confinement, including a stretch lasting nearly a year. WISDOM and partner organizations called on the short-staffed Wisconsin Department of Corrections to lift restrictions on prisoner movement, reduce the prison population and invest in community-based programs that aid prisoner rehabilitation. (Meryl Hubbard \/ Wisconsin Watch)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\nOn Nov. 15th, Mario told the Wisconsin Watch staff: “I was talking to a prisoner at Stanley (Correctional Institution). He told me yesterday that they\u2019ve gotten word that at the end of the month, schedules will go back to normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was like, “Well it\u2019s nice to hear that the story maybe had an impact.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said: \u201cThere is no maybe. It had a clear, direct result. It literally changed everything, almost overnight. You did that, and I thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Investigating forced labor<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nZhen Wang\u2019s tip-of-the-spear story on how Milwaukee Tool is using forced Chinese prison labor earning pennies a day<\/a> to make gloves for the Brookfield-based company has gotten the attention of the State Department, which contacted the U.S.-based wife of a dissident featured in the story. Recently, Walmart announced it was suspending sale of the gloves at its stores or on its website.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe investigation also prompted a bipartisan congressional investigation into Milwaukee Tool\u2019s supply chain practices. In a July 10 letter to Milwaukee Tool Group President Steve Richman, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, and U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, commission co-chair, wrote that the use of forced Chinese labor violates international human rights standards, China\u2019s international obligations and U.S. law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe raise these concerns after reading an investigative report by Wisconsin Watch which detailed how political prisoners in Chishan Prison were forced to work against their will, with little pay, to produce gloves for your company,\u201d said the letter<\/a>, which outlined questions for Milwaukee Tool to answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSpeaking July 11 at a commission hearing called \u201cCorporate Complicity: Subsidizing the PRC\u2019s Human Rights Violations<\/a>,\u201d Smith called the findings from the Wisconsin Watch report \u201cvery, very damaging.\u201d (quote is at 1:39:45)<\/p>\n\n\n\nThis story won top honors for best investigative journalism<\/a> in the 2023 Nonprofit News Awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\nShi Minglei, the wife of an imprisoned Chinese human rights activist Cheng Yuan, fled to the United States in 2021 and now lives in Minnesota\u2019s Twin Cities. She is calling for Brookfield-Wis.-based Milwaukee Tool to stop sourcing gloves made from forced prison labor in China. A Milwaukee Tool spokesperson says the company has \u201cfound no evidence to support\u201d allegations about forced labor. Shi is shown in Minneapolis on Feb. 19, 2023. (Ariana Lindquist for Wisconsin Watch)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Internal probes at the Sheboygan Police Department<\/strong><\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\nIn a joint investigation with The Sheboygan Press<\/a>, Phoebe Petrovic uncovered a long-secret series of internal probes at the Sheboygan Police Department that found a sprawling sexual harassment scandal involving 1 out of every 5 officers in the department. The reporting found female officers were treated more harshly than male colleagues participating in the same behavior and that the human resources director and the head of the city\u2019s Police and Fire Commission were largely left in the dark about the allegations. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe stories prompted the resignation of the most egregious offending officer two days after the story broke, an anti-abuse group called for accountability, community members voiced their anger, and city officials vowed to better respond to and prevent such misconduct. In addition, Phoebe received several messages of gratitude from Sheboygan citizens. This was a NEW News Lab story<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThis series was a finalist for the best collaboration<\/a> from the 2023 LION Awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\nVoting systems called out for gaps<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nMatthew DeFour found that the system for removing people found incompetent to vote had several gaps<\/a>, leaving openings for election deniers to claim widespread voter fraud.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe story featured a developmentally disabled voter whose name is on the state\u2019s ineligible voter list, but has somehow voted 16 times since 2010. His mother said she never intended to have her son\u2019s voting rights taken away and he is now in the process of fixing that in the court system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This story was cited in an October 2023 co-sponsorship memo on a bill that makes changes to how those voters are tracked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kiel residents rebuke far-right school officials<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nIn a three-part series<\/a>, Mario Koran explored the roots of racial and gender-related backlash that gripped Kiel, Wisconsin. The turmoil began when the school district investigated students\u2019 reports of being bullied over their race<\/a> or gender identity, and it escalated into bomb threats that shuttered schools<\/a>, halted in-person government meetings and canceled the Memorial Day parade. <\/p>\n\n\n\nAfter two stories were published, parents rallied to prevent the ouster of a popular superintendent <\/a>who a small but vocal group of parents targeted. Two far-right school board members resigned, restoring the board to a more moderate majority. This was one of our NEW News Lab stories. <\/p>\n\n\n\nIn January, we received a letter from Kiel resident Oliver Kornetzke to express his \u201csatisfaction and gratitude\u201d for the reporting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHis reporting, without a doubt, helped save our community by allowing the citizens of Kiel – armed with the truth – pull away from the grips of a small fringe group of very hateful individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI firmly believe that without Mario\u2019s work, the situation in Kiel would very much look different. Our community could very much be in a much darker place where misinformation and lies run rampant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This series was done as part of the NEW News Lab<\/a> and won the Accountability Award<\/a> from the 2023 LION awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAmy and Dan Wempner pose with their 18-year-old son Armond at their home in Kiel, Wis., on June 2, 2022. After discovering racist Snapchat messages directed at Armond before his junior year of high school, the family pushed the Kiel Area School District to respond. A plan to offer anti-racism training prompted backlash from white parents who accused the school of promoting critical race theory, an academic concept that conservative activists have politically weaponized. (Lianne Milton for Wisconsin Watch)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wisconsinites pay the price for pollution they didn\u2019t cause<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nIntern Erin Gretzinger revealed how state laws do not protect property owners when they unwittingly buy land that is contaminated<\/a>, later highlighting a bipartisan effort to change that<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Great Lakes pollution threatens Ojibwe treaty rights to fish<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nBennet Goldstein, reporting with the Mississippi River Ag & Water Desk, produced a three-part series and photos exploring how growing water contamination in the Great Lakes is eroding the Ojibwe Tribe\u2019s treaty fishing rights.<\/a>
After this story published, a professor at the Medill School of Journalism and Center for Native American & Indigenous Research at Northwestern University shared the following message: <\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI just wanted to tell you what a really, really fine job you did on these stories. The organization and writing was terrific, but the framing! You really captured and communicated an Indigenous world view in a way I rarely (if ever) see in mainstream reporting. I delivered a speech today to an environmental group and shared a link to that story and told them to read it before they did collaborative work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Really, really well done. I\u2019m going to share it with my colleagues at Medill as an example. Thank you for the work you put into your report. It definitely showed.”<\/p>\n\n\n\nCommercial fisher Donny Livingston, a citizen of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, picks cisco from gillnets after lifting them from Lake Superior onto the fish tug, Ava June, during a fishing run near the Apostle Islands on Nov. 15, 2022. Ojibwe tribes retain a treaty-guaranteed right to fish within portions of three Great Lakes and millions of acres of northwestern Michigan and its Upper Peninsula, northern Wisconsin and northeastern Minnesota. But climate change threatens many species, and contaminants long released into the Great Lakes, the health of people who eat them \u2014 disproportionately harming tribal citizens. (Bennet Goldstein \/ Wisconsin Watch)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wisconsin Supreme Court race: Anti-trans ads<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nA story written by reporter Phoebe Petrovic explained how anti-trans ads that favored state Supreme Court candidate Daniel Kelly spread misinformation and peddled fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This story received feedback from Wisconsinites, along with journalists at the national level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Sheboygan resident shared local anti-trans sentiments spreading around in her community to show the \u201ctrickle down\u201d effect of the movement against trans kids, thanking Wisconsin Watch for informing the public on misinformation.
This story was also shared on Twitter by journalists Erin Reed<\/a>, Melissa Gira Grant<\/a> and Katelyn Burns. <\/a> Grant applauded Wisconsin Watch\u2019s coverage, calling it \u201cthe most thorough coverage of anti-trans politics\u201d in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fact-checking claims<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nOur fact-checking project <\/a>with Gigafact continues to produce some of WisconsinWatch.org\u2019<\/a>s most-read content. In 2023, intern Erin Gretzinger and freelancers Tom Kertscher and Jacob Alabab-Moser produced 132 fact briefs in the first six months of the year. In May, three of our top 10 stories were fact briefs.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn February, we published a fact brief fact checking a claim that state Supreme Court candidate Daniel Kelly said supporting same-sex marriage \u201crobs marriage of any meaning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This fact brief was cited in an attack ad on Kelly. It was also cited in a Vanity Fair piece that outlined the historic Supreme Court election in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n2022<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wisconsin Watch expanded in 2022 to bring Wisconsinites more news they need on issues they care about. We added a three-person statehouse team to investigate threats to Wisconsin\u2019s democracy, which includes an Oshkosh-based reporter who focuses on workplace democracy. We hired a reporter to cover western Wisconsin as part of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk. We added a second reporter in Milwaukee to further our partnership with Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, fueled by the American Journalism Project, to rebuild local news in Milwaukee and statewide. We also expanded our business team to add expertise in audience, fundraising, operations and finance. We joined the Associated Press to bring readers more daily news to complement Wisconsin Watch\u2019s deep-dive stories. We added a fact-checking feature in partnership with Gigafact. And we increasingly publish stories from trusted partners at the NEW (Northeast Wisconsin) News Lab, Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk and other nonprofits such as the Energy News Network, Grist and Kaiser Health News. An estimated 49.9 million people saw our stories on WisconsinWatch.org and in the 280 news outlets that picked up our reports \u2014 double our audience from 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Highlights from 2022 include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democracy on the Ballot<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIn 2022 we produced the award-winning Democracy on the Ballot<\/a> series to alert voters to critical issues at play in the 2022 election. We showed how gerrymandering produced even more skewed voting maps than ever. We exposed which candidates had \u201cstop the steal\u201d sentiments \u2014 and how they hid those statements from voters. We showed how thousands of jail inmates are eligible to vote, but many jails don\u2019t help them cast ballots. Wisconsin Watch examined claims of voter and election fraud \u2014 used by activists to urge mass purging of voter rolls \u2014 but found only a smattering of questionable votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wisconsin curbs deadly driving<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nJonah Chester investigated<\/a> how state bureaucracy hinders local efforts to curb deadly driving on urban highways in Milwaukee. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation later approved plans to reconfigure part of Milwaukee\u2019s Appleton Avenue, a dangerous urban highway. Calling it a victory for pedestrian safety, Milwaukee Ald. Michael Murphy said WisDOT typically does not support such projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Attack on \u2018critical race theory\u2019<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIn 2022, Mario Koran exposed<\/a> the roots of culture wars over racial discrimination and bullying of a trans student that gripped Kiel, Wisconsin. Citizens fought back; two school board members who fanned the flames of the conflict resigned. \u201cI cannot overstate the importance to and impact his reporting has had on my own community,\u201d one reader wrote. \u201cPrior to his reporting, there was virtually no coverage on the facts. Misinformation and lies ran rampant with negative real-world consequences for both our public institutions and local democracy. \u2026 His reporting, without a doubt, helped save our community by allowing the citizens of Kiel \u2014 armed with the truth \u2014 to pull away from the grip of a small fringe group of very hateful individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Open and Shut podcast<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe Open and Shut<\/a> podcast hosted by Phoebe Petrovic exposed the gaps in the U.S. justice system that allow its most powerful actors to use nearly unchecked authority to win questionable cases, convict the innocent and pervert the pursuit of justice. The podcast from Wisconsin Watch and Wisconsin Public Radio draws on 20 years of reporting on Wisconsin prosecutors who misused their authority with tragic consequences. One listener from Appleton told WPR the podcast was \u201cincredible investigative journalism\u201d that brought \u201cthings to light that happened right in my front yard!\u201d Numerous people have contacted Wisconsin Watch with allegations similar to those described in the podcast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fact Briefs<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIn 2022, Wisconsin Watch launched Gigafact fact briefs, 140-word fact checks that use a \u201cyes\/no\u201d format to answer questions. Fact briefs<\/a> are designed to bolster correct claims made on social media and to debunk false ones to head off the spread of misinformation. We published nearly 200 of these briefs in 2022, producing critical fact checks just before Wisconsin\u2019s high-stakes gubernatorial and U.S. Senate elections. These bite-sized fact checks became among the most read items on WisconsinWatch.org.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Flawed Forensics<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThis award winning series profiled an Alaska couple<\/a> accused by Dr. Barbara Knox of abusing their 3-week-old daughter, who suffered from significant birth injuries. That was followed days later by the news that Knox was resigning from her position as Alaska\u2019s top child abuse pediatrician<\/a>. Knox had been on leave after allegations of bullying and misdiagnosis<\/a> \u2014 similar to charges made during her tenure at the University of Wisconsin. After we profiled another case<\/a> in which Knox accused a defendant of abuse, Joshua Gehde of Madison, Wis., got new lawyers who volunteered to file a federal petition for his release. And the Alaska family sued Knox<\/a> for her alleged wrongful diagnosis, which caused the couple to lose custody of their two young children for nearly a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFormer University of Wisconsin Dr. Barbara Knox has resigned as medical director of Alaska\u2019s forensic child abuse clinic. Knox has been on leave from Alaska CARES since the fall after a wave of departures that included every member of the medical staff other than Knox. (Claire DeRosa \/ Wisconsin Watch and University of Wisconsin file photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nFocus on refugees <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
After Zhen Wang reported this story as part of the NEW News Lab: \u2018They can bring so much\u2019: Despite barriers, Afghan evacuees enrich Wisconsin\u2019s workforce<\/a>, a dental clinic that serves refugees reached out and asked for paper copies to distribute to clients. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2021<\/h2>\n\n\n\nNearly 200 Wisconsin officers back on the job after being fired or forced out<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nRep. Moore Omokunde uses Wandering Cops article as supportive information to continue pressing for a bill that creates a freeze period during which police cannot avoid scrutiny by switching departments<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Could \u2018baby bonds\u2019 close Wisconsin\u2019s racial wealth gap?<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSen. Melissa Agard had no intention of proposing baby bonds when she was interviewed in the spring of 2021 for this story, and then in summer 2021 it became part of a Democratic economic security proposal. We updated the story just before publication to reflect the news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FEMA offers generous funeral aid to those grieving COVID-19 deaths. Getting it isn\u2019t easy.<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe subject of our story about funeral aid got her financial aid after our story ran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I cried for days\u2019: Wisconsin blocks pandemic payments for federal disability aid recipients<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAfter Bram Sable-Smith, the WPR Mike Simonson Memorial Investigative Reporting Fellow, reported on Wisconsin blocking disability payments during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sen. Baldwin, Sen. Moore, Sen. Kind and Sen. Pocan<\/a> wrote to the U.S. Department of Labor to provide clarity about the eligibility of Wisconsin recipients of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which was provided in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. This occurred after Wisconsin Secretary of Workforce Development (DWD) Caleb Frostman requested guidance from DOL on the same issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBram Sable-Smith, WPR Mike Simonson Memorial Investigative Reporting Fellow, reports from the COVID unit at the UW Hospital on Nov. 17, 2020. Smith was awarded a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for his series Costly Care, which investigated the impact of medical debt on people in Wisconsin and looked at how and why hospitals have continued to sue patients, even during a pandemic. Credit:<\/span> Angela Major \/ WPR<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Impact from the Cannabis Question Series<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Cannabis is seen growing in Leafline Labs headquarters, in Cottage Grove, Minn., April 18, 2019. The 42,000-square-foot indoor cultivation and production facility is used to grow marijuana for medical uses and create various pharmaceutical cannabis products. Credit:<\/span> Emily Hamer \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nIn 2019 Wisconsin Watch reported what would happen if the state were to legalize marijuana. Gov. Tony Evers proposed recreation marijuana legalization in his 2021-2023 biennial budget proposal, and our reporting was cited in news articles about Ever’s actions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
20<\/strong>20<\/h2>\n\n\n\nIn 2020, Wisconsin Watch produced 81 major reports \u2014 nearly three times as many stories as a typical year. Forced by the pandemic to abandon the offices at the UW-Madison journalism school in mid-March 2020, the Wisconsin Watch staff worked tirelessly to investigate disinformation<\/a>, Wisconsin\u2019s failing unemployment system<\/a>, the impact of crushing medical debt<\/a>, Wisconsin\u2019s often-flawed response to the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>, and problems in the state\u2019s election system<\/a>. In the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, we examined calls for racial justice and how police can better respond to protests<\/a> to minimize violence, what \u201cdefunding\u201d the police<\/a> would look like in Milwaukee, the factors leading to the deadly protest in Kenosha<\/a> \u2014 including the decision by police to work with armed militia members<\/a>. These stories were picked up by 401 news outlets, reaching an estimated 43 million people. The Milwaukee Press Club has awarded Wisconsin Watch 12 awards for our 2020 coverage<\/a>, and along with WPR, we were honored with a regional Edward R. Murrow Award<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\nAlso in 2020, Wisconsin Watch and the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service launched the Google News Initiative-funded News414<\/a> project. This innovative free news-by-text service helps fill information and accountability gaps in Milwaukee\u2019s Black- and brown-majority neighborhoods. News414 provides information to 2,100 subscribers, helping vulnerable residents navigate often-complicated systems to access services they need. In the early months of News414, the effort helped a father get free beds for his children. <\/p>\n\n\n\nInformation provided by News414 also has also helped residents access thousands of dollars in rental assistance and provided tips for staving off eviction. \u201cThank you for all the information and supporting the community,\u201d one renter texted last year after receiving $1,420 in rental assistance. In recent months, News414 began translating texts, social media outreach and stories into Spanish<\/a>. These provided crucial information to residents of Milwaukee and statewide, including that undocumented state residents are eligible for significant pandemic-related rental assistance<\/a>, and that proof of legal residency or insurance are not required to get a COVID-19 vaccination<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018You\u2019ve been served\u2019: Wisconsin hospitals sue patients over debt \u2014 even during pandemic<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee is seen on Nov. 1, 2019. Credit:<\/span> Gretchen Brown \/ WPR<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nBram Sable-Smith reported in April 2020 on how Wisconsin hospitals were suing patients over medical debts even during the pandemic. Five days later, two of those hospitals dismissed<\/a> some of those suits, and members of the public offered to help those who had been sued by their health care providers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Study: Poll closings, COVID-19 fears, kept many Milwaukee voters away<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nA press release<\/a> put out by the mayors of five Wisconsin cities cited a Wisconsin Watch tweet<\/a> of Dee J. Hall’s report covering Milwaukee residents who were dissuaded to vote in the April 7th election. The mayors of Madison, Kenosha, Green Bay, Milwaukee and Racine “successfully secured a combined $6.3 million in nonprofit grants to fund the \u201cWisconsin Safe Voting Plan.\u201d The grants, awarded by the nonpartisan Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), will help each municipality administer elections this year in the midst of the deadly coronavirus pandemic,” and used the tweet to show how not to run an election in Wisconsin during a pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blacks arrested for pot possession at four times the rate of whites in Wisconsin<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nA Wisconsin Watch report was cited in a dissent issued by Justice Brian Hagedorn to the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision<\/a> overturning the state’s Stay at Home order extension for COVID-19. Hagedorn compared the broad authority that Gov. Tony Evers had to enact the order to that of prosecutors, who \u201care given vast discretion in choosing whether to file a criminal complaint, and which crimes to charge.\u201d As noted in the story, the Dane County district attorney directed law enforcement not to bring him cases based on possession of small amounts of marijuana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n\u201cLos Lecheros\u201d (Dairy Farmers) was co-produced with Jim Cricchi and Susan Peters of Twelve Letter Films in 2017. It has screened at 25 film festivals, made the IDA shortlist and won a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nLos Lecheros<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe Wisconsin Humanities Council is using Los Lecheros<\/a> (Dairy Farmers), our 21-minute documentary, as a catalyst for community immigration discussions. A blog post<\/a> about their efforts reads, “Who are these undocumented people? We need the story. Los Lecheros takes you into a Wisconsin dairy barn to talk to undocumented workers and the farmer who employs them.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\nDozens of people attended the community events in Dubuque, Verona and Darlington, with additional events scheduled. Some grew up on dairy farms and shared a similar plight in having difficulty finding people able and interested in farming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blacks arrested for pot possession at four times the rate of whites in Wisconsin<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAfter Wisconsin Watch reported in 2019 about how black people are arrested at four times the rate of white people in Wisconsin, Sen. Fred A. Risser along with Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and Reps. Sheila Stubbs, David Crowley and Dave Considine introduced legislation that would decriminalize 25 grams or less of marijuana in the state of Wisconsin. In his press release<\/a>, Risser cited Wisconsin Watch\u2019s report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n2018<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nAsian restaurants and Chicago employment agencies accused of exploiting Latino workers in Midwest<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAlexandra Arriaga \/ Chicago Sun-Times<\/p>Mattresses, furniture and litter are scattered below the 18th Street Bridge adjacent to Ping Tom Memorial Park in Chicago\u2019s Chinatown neighborhood. It’s here, \u201cdebajo del puente,\u201d that many Latino men who are shuffled between low-wage, long-hour jobs at Asian restaurants settle in at night when they cannot afford to stay at an employment agency or hotel. Photo taken Sept. 18, 2018. Credit:<\/span> Alex Arriaga \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe job agency in Chicago\u2019s Chinatown accused of exploiting Latino workers ceased operations under a consent decree approved by a federal court judge. The court-ordered closure came just days after the Chicago Sun-Times and Wisconsin Watch published a special report putting the spotlight on Xing Ying and other agencies accused of exploiting undocumented workers. Four days after the report was published, the U.S. Department of Labor announced an initiative to help restaurants in Wisconsin comply with wage laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How tort reform bill changed state law<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nMilwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Daniel Bice wrote a column<\/a> titled “Sen. Leah Vukmir and Democrats clash over impact of nursing home law she supported.” The column mentions Wisconsin Watch\u2019s 2011 report on tort reform law which showed how the law \u201chas made it more difficult to hold nursing homes accountable for wrongdoing by keeping this crucial evidence out of court.”<\/p>\n\n\n\nSecret cash aided politicians who rewrote Wisconsin law to block claims of lead-poisoned children<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWisconsin Watch published a report by Pawan Naidu explaining how big campaign donations increasingly influence politicians in Wisconsin. Pat Nash wrote a column<\/a>, picked up by the Baraboo News Republic and at least five other news organizations, that mentioned and quoted our secret campaign cash coverage. It read, “Big money is fighting for Republicans to hold the majority in the state legislature.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\nHow hackers could attack Wisconsin\u2019s elections and what state officials are doing about it<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCoburn Dukehart \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/p>Laurie Decker, municipal clerk for the village of Little Chute, Wis., left, talks with Rita Mollen, chief election inspector, during voting at the village hall for a special election in the 1st Senate District on June 12, 2018. The village had recently retired an older model of voting machine for the newer DS200 scanner and tabulator. Credit:<\/span> Coburn Dukehart \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe Wisconsin Election Commission corrected one of the largest flaws in the state\u2019s election-security program in a unanimous vote to revise their policy for voting-machine audits. By introducing the possibility that hacked results could be detected and corrected before election results were certified, audits became a security measure for the first time. Beginning later in 2018, the commission randomly selected 5% of all voting machines statewide on the day after the November general election and instructed municipal clerks to conduct public hand counts of those machines\u2019 paper ballots in four key races. The audits were completed before election results are certified. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In previous years, Wisconsin\u2019s election officials audited only after they finalized results. This major flaw consistently put Wisconsin in the lower half of the 50 states\u2019 election security rankings. Post-election audits using paper ballots are considered critical for election security because officials have no other way to detect Election-Day computer errors. Local officials can keep software secure while it is in their possession, but they have no way to assess whether it was adequately secured before then. Lack of IT expertise and the voting-machine manufacturers\u2019 claims of proprietary secrecy prevent election officials from examining the software directly. Pre-election tests cannot prevent Election-Day computer errors or glitches, nor can they detect malicious code designed to operate only on Election Day. In August 2018, The Green Bay Press Gazette published a column<\/a> titled “Give Wisconsin Elections Commission input on election security.” The column cited Wisconsin Watch\u2019s coverage of election security in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFacing the truth behind the statistics of sexual assault<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nJamie Gilford<\/a>, Clery Program director at University of Wisconsin Police Department, wrote an email to Wisconsin Watch Managing Editor Dee J. Hall and Digital and Multimedia Director Coburn Dukehart expressing her gratitude for our report covering campus sexual assaults. Gilford\u2019s note said, “I wanted to say how much I appreciated the article you published in Madison Magazine in September. Sexual assault is always a challenging topic to cover and navigating the intersecting laws regarding report-tracking can be very disorienting for most people. I think you did an excellent job accurately explaining the data and fairly putting it into context. Quality journalism like this does much to advance our understanding of the prevalence of sexual assault in our communities, the actions we are taking to combat it, and all of the work we have left to do. As someone who also takes a professional interest in institutional transparency, thank you.”<\/p>\n\n\n\nAfter Gov. Scott Walker took office, bills moved faster through the Wisconsin Legislature<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWisconsin State Sen. Kathleen Vinehout wrote a column<\/a> about the tactics used by majority party leadership to rush bills through the Legislature in Madison. Vinehout discussed how speed sacrifices public input and prevents thoughtful debate in the lawmaking process. The column heavily cited Wisconsin Watch\u2019s coverage of the speed of lawmaking in Wisconsin. The column was picked up by news organizations across Wisconsin.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWisconsin doubles GPS monitoring despite five years of malfunctions, unnecessary jailings<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCoburn Dukehart \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/p>Cody McCormick, 29, shows the GPS monitoring device he is required to wear as a result of a sex-related conviction while living in Minnesota. He says the device has severely impacted his life, banging up his ankle, prohibiting him from wearing shorts or swimming, tearing holes in three pairs of pants and is socially embarrassing. Credit:<\/span> Coburn Dukehart \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe Badger Herald published a column<\/a> titled “State\u2019s GPS bracelet system inefficient, ineffective in monitoring offenders.” The column heavily cited Wisconsin Watch\u2019s coverage of the state Department of Corrections\u2019 GPS monitoring program. The stories showed that five years after Wisconsin Watch first revealed<\/a> technical problems that were prompting offenders to be jailed when they had not committed any violations, some of the same problems remained.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWisconsin taxpayers lose out on millions after Gov. Scott Walker, lawmakers repeal anti-fraud law<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nRep. Lisa Subeck, D-Madison, introduced a bill to reinstate the state False Claims Act and restore the ability of a private individual or whistleblower, to bring a claim alleging Medicaid fraud. Wisconsin Watch had reported that the state was missing out on at least $11 million in reimbursements for alleged fraud after the Legislature quickly repealed the law in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n2017<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nControversial debt buyers get a break under new Wisconsin law<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Coburn Dukehart \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/p>Sandra Goodwin, 56, is photographed at her home in Stoughton, Wis., on March 25, 2016. In the summer of 2015, Goodwin was sued by a debt buyer she had never heard of, Jefferson Capital Systems. The company had purchased her debt, which originated from an online school called The College Network. Goodwin is settling the case with the help of a pro bono lawyer. She says she was legally blind at the time she signed a promissory note agreeing to pay for an online class, which she thought she had cancelled. Credit:<\/span> Coburn Dukehart \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWISDOM referenced our reporting in a July 2017 press release about the risks faced by Wisconsin consumers in regard to payday loans and called for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to issue a strong payday lending rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n2016<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nPrecious lives<\/a><\/strong> series<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\nPrecious Lives was a collaborative project with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee Public Radio and 371 Productions covering gun violence on children in Milwaukee and across the state. Precious Lives received two gold awards<\/a> from the Milwaukee Press Club, top honors from the National Association of Black Journalists and was a national finalist for the prestigious Peabody Award for broadcast journalism. Precious Lives stories were shared on social media by prominent organizations and figures such as National Public Radio, Reveal, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Rep. Mark Pocan and CNN correspondent Jake Tapper. <\/strong>The project was also featured in a segment on All Things Considered<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nA tale of two states: Wisconsin trails Colorado as both cut solitary confinement<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Jen Friedberg for Wisconsin Watch<\/p>This $200 million prison in Ca\u00f1on City, Colorado was opened in 2010 exclusively to house prisoners in solitary confinement. It is now vacant because of the Colorado Department of Corrections decision to severely curtail use of isolation. Officials are considering turning the 948-bed facility into a reentry center to help inmates prepare for life after prison. Photo taken Jan. 29, 2016. Credit:<\/span> Jen Friedberg \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe Wisconsin Department of Corrections proposed a program for Wisconsin inmates similar to one highlighted in a Wisconsin Watch story in which Colorado prisoners in solitary confinement are allowed up to 20 hours a week out of their cells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Strong public support, pleas from grieving family fail to move Wisconsin on gun background checks<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
When contacted by the WPR reporter Corri Hess, several high-profile officials said the nonprofit had listed them in tax filings as board officers without their knowledge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Nov. 30, 2023, Randall resigned as RNC host committee secretary, after the questionable history of his nonprofit came to light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lockdown conditions examined at three Wisconsin state prisons<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Wisconsin Watch and New York Times reporter Mario Koran reported earlier this year on a months-long lockdown at Waupun Correctional Institution associated with at least two prisoner deaths. In mid-November Gov. Tony Evers announced a plan to ease movement restrictions.<\/a> Mario’s reporting from Wisconsin Watch and The New York Times:<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Nov. 15th, Mario told the Wisconsin Watch staff: “I was talking to a prisoner at Stanley (Correctional Institution). He told me yesterday that they\u2019ve gotten word that at the end of the month, schedules will go back to normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was like, “Well it\u2019s nice to hear that the story maybe had an impact.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n He said: \u201cThere is no maybe. It had a clear, direct result. It literally changed everything, almost overnight. You did that, and I thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Investigating forced labor<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Zhen Wang\u2019s tip-of-the-spear story on how Milwaukee Tool is using forced Chinese prison labor earning pennies a day<\/a> to make gloves for the Brookfield-based company has gotten the attention of the State Department, which contacted the U.S.-based wife of a dissident featured in the story. Recently, Walmart announced it was suspending sale of the gloves at its stores or on its website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The investigation also prompted a bipartisan congressional investigation into Milwaukee Tool\u2019s supply chain practices. In a July 10 letter to Milwaukee Tool Group President Steve Richman, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, and U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, commission co-chair, wrote that the use of forced Chinese labor violates international human rights standards, China\u2019s international obligations and U.S. law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe raise these concerns after reading an investigative report by Wisconsin Watch which detailed how political prisoners in Chishan Prison were forced to work against their will, with little pay, to produce gloves for your company,\u201d said the letter<\/a>, which outlined questions for Milwaukee Tool to answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking July 11 at a commission hearing called \u201cCorporate Complicity: Subsidizing the PRC\u2019s Human Rights Violations<\/a>,\u201d Smith called the findings from the Wisconsin Watch report \u201cvery, very damaging.\u201d (quote is at 1:39:45)<\/p>\n\n\n\n This story won top honors for best investigative journalism<\/a> in the 2023 Nonprofit News Awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Internal probes at the Sheboygan Police Department<\/strong><\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n In a joint investigation with The Sheboygan Press<\/a>, Phoebe Petrovic uncovered a long-secret series of internal probes at the Sheboygan Police Department that found a sprawling sexual harassment scandal involving 1 out of every 5 officers in the department. The reporting found female officers were treated more harshly than male colleagues participating in the same behavior and that the human resources director and the head of the city\u2019s Police and Fire Commission were largely left in the dark about the allegations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The stories prompted the resignation of the most egregious offending officer two days after the story broke, an anti-abuse group called for accountability, community members voiced their anger, and city officials vowed to better respond to and prevent such misconduct. In addition, Phoebe received several messages of gratitude from Sheboygan citizens. This was a NEW News Lab story<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This series was a finalist for the best collaboration<\/a> from the 2023 LION Awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Voting systems called out for gaps<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Matthew DeFour found that the system for removing people found incompetent to vote had several gaps<\/a>, leaving openings for election deniers to claim widespread voter fraud.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The story featured a developmentally disabled voter whose name is on the state\u2019s ineligible voter list, but has somehow voted 16 times since 2010. His mother said she never intended to have her son\u2019s voting rights taken away and he is now in the process of fixing that in the court system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This story was cited in an October 2023 co-sponsorship memo on a bill that makes changes to how those voters are tracked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kiel residents rebuke far-right school officials<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n In a three-part series<\/a>, Mario Koran explored the roots of racial and gender-related backlash that gripped Kiel, Wisconsin. The turmoil began when the school district investigated students\u2019 reports of being bullied over their race<\/a> or gender identity, and it escalated into bomb threats that shuttered schools<\/a>, halted in-person government meetings and canceled the Memorial Day parade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After two stories were published, parents rallied to prevent the ouster of a popular superintendent <\/a>who a small but vocal group of parents targeted. Two far-right school board members resigned, restoring the board to a more moderate majority. This was one of our NEW News Lab stories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In January, we received a letter from Kiel resident Oliver Kornetzke to express his \u201csatisfaction and gratitude\u201d for the reporting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHis reporting, without a doubt, helped save our community by allowing the citizens of Kiel – armed with the truth – pull away from the grips of a small fringe group of very hateful individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI firmly believe that without Mario\u2019s work, the situation in Kiel would very much look different. Our community could very much be in a much darker place where misinformation and lies run rampant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This series was done as part of the NEW News Lab<\/a> and won the Accountability Award<\/a> from the 2023 LION awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Wisconsinites pay the price for pollution they didn\u2019t cause<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Intern Erin Gretzinger revealed how state laws do not protect property owners when they unwittingly buy land that is contaminated<\/a>, later highlighting a bipartisan effort to change that<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Great Lakes pollution threatens Ojibwe treaty rights to fish<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bennet Goldstein, reporting with the Mississippi River Ag & Water Desk, produced a three-part series and photos exploring how growing water contamination in the Great Lakes is eroding the Ojibwe Tribe\u2019s treaty fishing rights.<\/a> \u201cI just wanted to tell you what a really, really fine job you did on these stories. The organization and writing was terrific, but the framing! You really captured and communicated an Indigenous world view in a way I rarely (if ever) see in mainstream reporting. I delivered a speech today to an environmental group and shared a link to that story and told them to read it before they did collaborative work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Really, really well done. I\u2019m going to share it with my colleagues at Medill as an example. Thank you for the work you put into your report. It definitely showed.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Wisconsin Supreme Court race: Anti-trans ads<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n A story written by reporter Phoebe Petrovic explained how anti-trans ads that favored state Supreme Court candidate Daniel Kelly spread misinformation and peddled fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This story received feedback from Wisconsinites, along with journalists at the national level. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A Sheboygan resident shared local anti-trans sentiments spreading around in her community to show the \u201ctrickle down\u201d effect of the movement against trans kids, thanking Wisconsin Watch for informing the public on misinformation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Fact-checking claims<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Our fact-checking project <\/a>with Gigafact continues to produce some of WisconsinWatch.org\u2019<\/a>s most-read content. In 2023, intern Erin Gretzinger and freelancers Tom Kertscher and Jacob Alabab-Moser produced 132 fact briefs in the first six months of the year. In May, three of our top 10 stories were fact briefs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In February, we published a fact brief fact checking a claim that state Supreme Court candidate Daniel Kelly said supporting same-sex marriage \u201crobs marriage of any meaning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This fact brief was cited in an attack ad on Kelly. It was also cited in a Vanity Fair piece that outlined the historic Supreme Court election in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wisconsin Watch expanded in 2022 to bring Wisconsinites more news they need on issues they care about. We added a three-person statehouse team to investigate threats to Wisconsin\u2019s democracy, which includes an Oshkosh-based reporter who focuses on workplace democracy. We hired a reporter to cover western Wisconsin as part of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk. We added a second reporter in Milwaukee to further our partnership with Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, fueled by the American Journalism Project, to rebuild local news in Milwaukee and statewide. We also expanded our business team to add expertise in audience, fundraising, operations and finance. We joined the Associated Press to bring readers more daily news to complement Wisconsin Watch\u2019s deep-dive stories. We added a fact-checking feature in partnership with Gigafact. And we increasingly publish stories from trusted partners at the NEW (Northeast Wisconsin) News Lab, Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk and other nonprofits such as the Energy News Network, Grist and Kaiser Health News. An estimated 49.9 million people saw our stories on WisconsinWatch.org and in the 280 news outlets that picked up our reports \u2014 double our audience from 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Highlights from 2022 include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2022 we produced the award-winning Democracy on the Ballot<\/a> series to alert voters to critical issues at play in the 2022 election. We showed how gerrymandering produced even more skewed voting maps than ever. We exposed which candidates had \u201cstop the steal\u201d sentiments \u2014 and how they hid those statements from voters. We showed how thousands of jail inmates are eligible to vote, but many jails don\u2019t help them cast ballots. Wisconsin Watch examined claims of voter and election fraud \u2014 used by activists to urge mass purging of voter rolls \u2014 but found only a smattering of questionable votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jonah Chester investigated<\/a> how state bureaucracy hinders local efforts to curb deadly driving on urban highways in Milwaukee. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation later approved plans to reconfigure part of Milwaukee\u2019s Appleton Avenue, a dangerous urban highway. Calling it a victory for pedestrian safety, Milwaukee Ald. Michael Murphy said WisDOT typically does not support such projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2022, Mario Koran exposed<\/a> the roots of culture wars over racial discrimination and bullying of a trans student that gripped Kiel, Wisconsin. Citizens fought back; two school board members who fanned the flames of the conflict resigned. \u201cI cannot overstate the importance to and impact his reporting has had on my own community,\u201d one reader wrote. \u201cPrior to his reporting, there was virtually no coverage on the facts. Misinformation and lies ran rampant with negative real-world consequences for both our public institutions and local democracy. \u2026 His reporting, without a doubt, helped save our community by allowing the citizens of Kiel \u2014 armed with the truth \u2014 to pull away from the grip of a small fringe group of very hateful individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Open and Shut<\/a> podcast hosted by Phoebe Petrovic exposed the gaps in the U.S. justice system that allow its most powerful actors to use nearly unchecked authority to win questionable cases, convict the innocent and pervert the pursuit of justice. The podcast from Wisconsin Watch and Wisconsin Public Radio draws on 20 years of reporting on Wisconsin prosecutors who misused their authority with tragic consequences. One listener from Appleton told WPR the podcast was \u201cincredible investigative journalism\u201d that brought \u201cthings to light that happened right in my front yard!\u201d Numerous people have contacted Wisconsin Watch with allegations similar to those described in the podcast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2022, Wisconsin Watch launched Gigafact fact briefs, 140-word fact checks that use a \u201cyes\/no\u201d format to answer questions. Fact briefs<\/a> are designed to bolster correct claims made on social media and to debunk false ones to head off the spread of misinformation. We published nearly 200 of these briefs in 2022, producing critical fact checks just before Wisconsin\u2019s high-stakes gubernatorial and U.S. Senate elections. These bite-sized fact checks became among the most read items on WisconsinWatch.org.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n This award winning series profiled an Alaska couple<\/a> accused by Dr. Barbara Knox of abusing their 3-week-old daughter, who suffered from significant birth injuries. That was followed days later by the news that Knox was resigning from her position as Alaska\u2019s top child abuse pediatrician<\/a>. Knox had been on leave after allegations of bullying and misdiagnosis<\/a> \u2014 similar to charges made during her tenure at the University of Wisconsin. After we profiled another case<\/a> in which Knox accused a defendant of abuse, Joshua Gehde of Madison, Wis., got new lawyers who volunteered to file a federal petition for his release. And the Alaska family sued Knox<\/a> for her alleged wrongful diagnosis, which caused the couple to lose custody of their two young children for nearly a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After Zhen Wang reported this story as part of the NEW News Lab: \u2018They can bring so much\u2019: Despite barriers, Afghan evacuees enrich Wisconsin\u2019s workforce<\/a>, a dental clinic that serves refugees reached out and asked for paper copies to distribute to clients. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Rep. Moore Omokunde uses Wandering Cops article as supportive information to continue pressing for a bill that creates a freeze period during which police cannot avoid scrutiny by switching departments<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sen. Melissa Agard had no intention of proposing baby bonds when she was interviewed in the spring of 2021 for this story, and then in summer 2021 it became part of a Democratic economic security proposal. We updated the story just before publication to reflect the news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The subject of our story about funeral aid got her financial aid after our story ran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n After Bram Sable-Smith, the WPR Mike Simonson Memorial Investigative Reporting Fellow, reported on Wisconsin blocking disability payments during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sen. Baldwin, Sen. Moore, Sen. Kind and Sen. Pocan<\/a> wrote to the U.S. Department of Labor to provide clarity about the eligibility of Wisconsin recipients of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which was provided in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. This occurred after Wisconsin Secretary of Workforce Development (DWD) Caleb Frostman requested guidance from DOL on the same issue.<\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2019 Wisconsin Watch reported what would happen if the state were to legalize marijuana. Gov. Tony Evers proposed recreation marijuana legalization in his 2021-2023 biennial budget proposal, and our reporting was cited in news articles about Ever’s actions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2020, Wisconsin Watch produced 81 major reports \u2014 nearly three times as many stories as a typical year. Forced by the pandemic to abandon the offices at the UW-Madison journalism school in mid-March 2020, the Wisconsin Watch staff worked tirelessly to investigate disinformation<\/a>, Wisconsin\u2019s failing unemployment system<\/a>, the impact of crushing medical debt<\/a>, Wisconsin\u2019s often-flawed response to the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>, and problems in the state\u2019s election system<\/a>. In the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, we examined calls for racial justice and how police can better respond to protests<\/a> to minimize violence, what \u201cdefunding\u201d the police<\/a> would look like in Milwaukee, the factors leading to the deadly protest in Kenosha<\/a> \u2014 including the decision by police to work with armed militia members<\/a>. These stories were picked up by 401 news outlets, reaching an estimated 43 million people. The Milwaukee Press Club has awarded Wisconsin Watch 12 awards for our 2020 coverage<\/a>, and along with WPR, we were honored with a regional Edward R. Murrow Award<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Also in 2020, Wisconsin Watch and the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service launched the Google News Initiative-funded News414<\/a> project. This innovative free news-by-text service helps fill information and accountability gaps in Milwaukee\u2019s Black- and brown-majority neighborhoods. News414 provides information to 2,100 subscribers, helping vulnerable residents navigate often-complicated systems to access services they need. In the early months of News414, the effort helped a father get free beds for his children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Information provided by News414 also has also helped residents access thousands of dollars in rental assistance and provided tips for staving off eviction. \u201cThank you for all the information and supporting the community,\u201d one renter texted last year after receiving $1,420 in rental assistance. In recent months, News414 began translating texts, social media outreach and stories into Spanish<\/a>. These provided crucial information to residents of Milwaukee and statewide, including that undocumented state residents are eligible for significant pandemic-related rental assistance<\/a>, and that proof of legal residency or insurance are not required to get a COVID-19 vaccination<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bram Sable-Smith reported in April 2020 on how Wisconsin hospitals were suing patients over medical debts even during the pandemic. Five days later, two of those hospitals dismissed<\/a> some of those suits, and members of the public offered to help those who had been sued by their health care providers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n A press release<\/a> put out by the mayors of five Wisconsin cities cited a Wisconsin Watch tweet<\/a> of Dee J. Hall’s report covering Milwaukee residents who were dissuaded to vote in the April 7th election. The mayors of Madison, Kenosha, Green Bay, Milwaukee and Racine “successfully secured a combined $6.3 million in nonprofit grants to fund the \u201cWisconsin Safe Voting Plan.\u201d The grants, awarded by the nonpartisan Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), will help each municipality administer elections this year in the midst of the deadly coronavirus pandemic,” and used the tweet to show how not to run an election in Wisconsin during a pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n A Wisconsin Watch report was cited in a dissent issued by Justice Brian Hagedorn to the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision<\/a> overturning the state’s Stay at Home order extension for COVID-19. Hagedorn compared the broad authority that Gov. Tony Evers had to enact the order to that of prosecutors, who \u201care given vast discretion in choosing whether to file a criminal complaint, and which crimes to charge.\u201d As noted in the story, the Dane County district attorney directed law enforcement not to bring him cases based on possession of small amounts of marijuana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Wisconsin Humanities Council is using Los Lecheros<\/a> (Dairy Farmers), our 21-minute documentary, as a catalyst for community immigration discussions. A blog post<\/a> about their efforts reads, “Who are these undocumented people? We need the story. Los Lecheros takes you into a Wisconsin dairy barn to talk to undocumented workers and the farmer who employs them.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dozens of people attended the community events in Dubuque, Verona and Darlington, with additional events scheduled. Some grew up on dairy farms and shared a similar plight in having difficulty finding people able and interested in farming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After Wisconsin Watch reported in 2019 about how black people are arrested at four times the rate of white people in Wisconsin, Sen. Fred A. Risser along with Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and Reps. Sheila Stubbs, David Crowley and Dave Considine introduced legislation that would decriminalize 25 grams or less of marijuana in the state of Wisconsin. In his press release<\/a>, Risser cited Wisconsin Watch\u2019s report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alexandra Arriaga \/ Chicago Sun-Times<\/p>Mattresses, furniture and litter are scattered below the 18th Street Bridge adjacent to Ping Tom Memorial Park in Chicago\u2019s Chinatown neighborhood. It’s here, \u201cdebajo del puente,\u201d that many Latino men who are shuffled between low-wage, long-hour jobs at Asian restaurants settle in at night when they cannot afford to stay at an employment agency or hotel. Photo taken Sept. 18, 2018. Credit:<\/span> Alex Arriaga \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n The job agency in Chicago\u2019s Chinatown accused of exploiting Latino workers ceased operations under a consent decree approved by a federal court judge. The court-ordered closure came just days after the Chicago Sun-Times and Wisconsin Watch published a special report putting the spotlight on Xing Ying and other agencies accused of exploiting undocumented workers. Four days after the report was published, the U.S. Department of Labor announced an initiative to help restaurants in Wisconsin comply with wage laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Daniel Bice wrote a column<\/a> titled “Sen. Leah Vukmir and Democrats clash over impact of nursing home law she supported.” The column mentions Wisconsin Watch\u2019s 2011 report on tort reform law which showed how the law \u201chas made it more difficult to hold nursing homes accountable for wrongdoing by keeping this crucial evidence out of court.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wisconsin Watch published a report by Pawan Naidu explaining how big campaign donations increasingly influence politicians in Wisconsin. Pat Nash wrote a column<\/a>, picked up by the Baraboo News Republic and at least five other news organizations, that mentioned and quoted our secret campaign cash coverage. It read, “Big money is fighting for Republicans to hold the majority in the state legislature.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Coburn Dukehart \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/p>Laurie Decker, municipal clerk for the village of Little Chute, Wis., left, talks with Rita Mollen, chief election inspector, during voting at the village hall for a special election in the 1st Senate District on June 12, 2018. The village had recently retired an older model of voting machine for the newer DS200 scanner and tabulator. Credit:<\/span> Coburn Dukehart \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n The Wisconsin Election Commission corrected one of the largest flaws in the state\u2019s election-security program in a unanimous vote to revise their policy for voting-machine audits. By introducing the possibility that hacked results could be detected and corrected before election results were certified, audits became a security measure for the first time. Beginning later in 2018, the commission randomly selected 5% of all voting machines statewide on the day after the November general election and instructed municipal clerks to conduct public hand counts of those machines\u2019 paper ballots in four key races. The audits were completed before election results are certified. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In previous years, Wisconsin\u2019s election officials audited only after they finalized results. This major flaw consistently put Wisconsin in the lower half of the 50 states\u2019 election security rankings. Post-election audits using paper ballots are considered critical for election security because officials have no other way to detect Election-Day computer errors. Local officials can keep software secure while it is in their possession, but they have no way to assess whether it was adequately secured before then. Lack of IT expertise and the voting-machine manufacturers\u2019 claims of proprietary secrecy prevent election officials from examining the software directly. Pre-election tests cannot prevent Election-Day computer errors or glitches, nor can they detect malicious code designed to operate only on Election Day. In August 2018, The Green Bay Press Gazette published a column<\/a> titled “Give Wisconsin Elections Commission input on election security.” The column cited Wisconsin Watch\u2019s coverage of election security in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jamie Gilford<\/a>, Clery Program director at University of Wisconsin Police Department, wrote an email to Wisconsin Watch Managing Editor Dee J. Hall and Digital and Multimedia Director Coburn Dukehart expressing her gratitude for our report covering campus sexual assaults. Gilford\u2019s note said, “I wanted to say how much I appreciated the article you published in Madison Magazine in September. Sexual assault is always a challenging topic to cover and navigating the intersecting laws regarding report-tracking can be very disorienting for most people. I think you did an excellent job accurately explaining the data and fairly putting it into context. Quality journalism like this does much to advance our understanding of the prevalence of sexual assault in our communities, the actions we are taking to combat it, and all of the work we have left to do. As someone who also takes a professional interest in institutional transparency, thank you.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wisconsin State Sen. Kathleen Vinehout wrote a column<\/a> about the tactics used by majority party leadership to rush bills through the Legislature in Madison. Vinehout discussed how speed sacrifices public input and prevents thoughtful debate in the lawmaking process. The column heavily cited Wisconsin Watch\u2019s coverage of the speed of lawmaking in Wisconsin. The column was picked up by news organizations across Wisconsin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Coburn Dukehart \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/p>Cody McCormick, 29, shows the GPS monitoring device he is required to wear as a result of a sex-related conviction while living in Minnesota. He says the device has severely impacted his life, banging up his ankle, prohibiting him from wearing shorts or swimming, tearing holes in three pairs of pants and is socially embarrassing. Credit:<\/span> Coburn Dukehart \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n The Badger Herald published a column<\/a> titled “State\u2019s GPS bracelet system inefficient, ineffective in monitoring offenders.” The column heavily cited Wisconsin Watch\u2019s coverage of the state Department of Corrections\u2019 GPS monitoring program. The stories showed that five years after Wisconsin Watch first revealed<\/a> technical problems that were prompting offenders to be jailed when they had not committed any violations, some of the same problems remained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rep. Lisa Subeck, D-Madison, introduced a bill to reinstate the state False Claims Act and restore the ability of a private individual or whistleblower, to bring a claim alleging Medicaid fraud. Wisconsin Watch had reported that the state was missing out on at least $11 million in reimbursements for alleged fraud after the Legislature quickly repealed the law in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Coburn Dukehart \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/p>Sandra Goodwin, 56, is photographed at her home in Stoughton, Wis., on March 25, 2016. In the summer of 2015, Goodwin was sued by a debt buyer she had never heard of, Jefferson Capital Systems. The company had purchased her debt, which originated from an online school called The College Network. Goodwin is settling the case with the help of a pro bono lawyer. She says she was legally blind at the time she signed a promissory note agreeing to pay for an online class, which she thought she had cancelled. Credit:<\/span> Coburn Dukehart \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n WISDOM referenced our reporting in a July 2017 press release about the risks faced by Wisconsin consumers in regard to payday loans and called for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to issue a strong payday lending rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Precious Lives was a collaborative project with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee Public Radio and 371 Productions covering gun violence on children in Milwaukee and across the state. Precious Lives received two gold awards<\/a> from the Milwaukee Press Club, top honors from the National Association of Black Journalists and was a national finalist for the prestigious Peabody Award for broadcast journalism. Precious Lives stories were shared on social media by prominent organizations and figures such as National Public Radio, Reveal, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Rep. Mark Pocan and CNN correspondent Jake Tapper. <\/strong>The project was also featured in a segment on All Things Considered<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jen Friedberg for Wisconsin Watch<\/p>This $200 million prison in Ca\u00f1on City, Colorado was opened in 2010 exclusively to house prisoners in solitary confinement. It is now vacant because of the Colorado Department of Corrections decision to severely curtail use of isolation. Officials are considering turning the 948-bed facility into a reentry center to help inmates prepare for life after prison. Photo taken Jan. 29, 2016. Credit:<\/span> Jen Friedberg \/ Wisconsin Watch<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n The Wisconsin Department of Corrections proposed a program for Wisconsin inmates similar to one highlighted in a Wisconsin Watch story in which Colorado prisoners in solitary confinement are allowed up to 20 hours a week out of their cells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, in early-November, Democratic lawmakers introduced a sweeping legislative package<\/a> to address deteriorating conditions in Wisconsin prisons after we reported that chronic staffing shortages led to months-long lockdowns and a federal lawsuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\n
After this story published, a professor at the Medill School of Journalism and Center for Native American & Indigenous Research at Northwestern University shared the following message: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This story was also shared on Twitter by journalists Erin Reed<\/a>, Melissa Gira Grant<\/a> and Katelyn Burns. <\/a> Grant applauded Wisconsin Watch\u2019s coverage, calling it \u201cthe most thorough coverage of anti-trans politics\u201d in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n2022<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nDemocracy on the Ballot<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Wisconsin curbs deadly driving<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Attack on \u2018critical race theory\u2019<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Open and Shut podcast<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Fact Briefs<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Flawed Forensics<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Focus on refugees <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n2021<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Nearly 200 Wisconsin officers back on the job after being fired or forced out<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Could \u2018baby bonds\u2019 close Wisconsin\u2019s racial wealth gap?<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
FEMA offers generous funeral aid to those grieving COVID-19 deaths. Getting it isn\u2019t easy.<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I cried for days\u2019: Wisconsin blocks pandemic payments for federal disability aid recipients<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Impact from the Cannabis Question Series<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>
\n\n\n\n20<\/strong>20<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2018You\u2019ve been served\u2019: Wisconsin hospitals sue patients over debt \u2014 even during pandemic<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Study: Poll closings, COVID-19 fears, kept many Milwaukee voters away<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Blacks arrested for pot possession at four times the rate of whites in Wisconsin<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
Los Lecheros<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Blacks arrested for pot possession at four times the rate of whites in Wisconsin<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n2018<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Asian restaurants and Chicago employment agencies accused of exploiting Latino workers in Midwest<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How tort reform bill changed state law<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Secret cash aided politicians who rewrote Wisconsin law to block claims of lead-poisoned children<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How hackers could attack Wisconsin\u2019s elections and what state officials are doing about it<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Facing the truth behind the statistics of sexual assault<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
After Gov. Scott Walker took office, bills moved faster through the Wisconsin Legislature<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Wisconsin doubles GPS monitoring despite five years of malfunctions, unnecessary jailings<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Wisconsin taxpayers lose out on millions after Gov. Scott Walker, lawmakers repeal anti-fraud law<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n2017<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Controversial debt buyers get a break under new Wisconsin law<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>
\n\n\n\n2016<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Precious lives<\/a><\/strong> series<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
A tale of two states: Wisconsin trails Colorado as both cut solitary confinement<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>Strong public support, pleas from grieving family fail to move Wisconsin on gun background checks<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n