Last week, our newsroom was intrigued by data in this Economist article showing that Wisconsin stands out nationally when it comes to its low vaccination rates for measles. It prompted a discussion about the many reasons for vaccine hesitancy and the complex challenges of maintaining trust in public health.
One thing is clear: Measles is a very infectious disease, and it’s spreading nationwide.
Officials in 2025 have tracked almost as many measles outbreaks (defined as three or more related cases) as they did in all of 2024. Three deaths this year have been linked to measles. They included two unvaccinated school-aged children in Texas and an unvaccinated adult in New Mexico.
The outbreaks come as vaccination rates decline nationwide, particularly in Wisconsin. The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine rate for Wisconsin kindergartners has plunged since 2019. But even before the COVID-19 pandemic, no county in Wisconsin had more than a 90% vaccination rate, which is traditionally associated with “herd immunity.”
Wisconsin, The Economist article noted, “is among the most permissive states for vaccine exceptions in schools, allowing opt-out for personal-conviction reasons (along with medical and religious exemptions, which most states have); parents only have to submit a written note.”
Still, Wisconsin has yet to see a measles outbreak this year. As we consider how to report on this issue, let us know what you think.
Do you have questions about measles, its vaccine or how to keep your family safe? Or do you have perspectives to share about prevention efforts in your community?
If so, fill out this brief form. Your submissions will shape the direction of our reporting and will not be shared publicly.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
Wisconsin Watch, a nonprofit news organization that uses journalism to make Wisconsin communities strong, informed and connected, seeks a data investigative reporter to expand our capacity to provide vital evidence and context to our reporting.
Working with other journalists in our statewide and Milwaukee newsrooms, you will use data to help us better understand Wisconsin communities and hold leaders to account. We believe that access to truthful local news is critical to a healthy democracy and to finding solutions to the most pressing problems of everyday life.
Job duties
Reporting to the managing editor, you will:
Find, compile and clean data that powers our journalism.
Plan and execute quantitative analyses — and interpret results — to support stories and visualizations.
Design and build creative static and interactive graphics to visualize findings.
Pitch and develop your own stories with support from editors.
Help other journalists advance their data journalism skills, teaching and encouraging best practices across the newsrooms.
At Wisconsin Watch we make sure that we are producing quality journalism and give our reporters the time they need to make sure the job is done well. Rather than chasing clicks, we measure success through the impact we deliver to those we serve.
Required qualifications: The ideal candidate will bring a public service mindset and a demonstrated commitment to nonpartisan journalism ethics, including a commitment to abide by Wisconsin Watch’s ethics policies. More specifically, we’re looking for a reporter who:
Has worked on data projects in a newsroom or has performed statistical analysis in a research setting.
Demonstrates ability to analyze data in Python, R, SQL or a similar high-level language.
Has experience with off-the-shelf data visualization tools like Datawrapper or Flourish.
Demonstrates ability to formulate compelling story pitches to editors.
Aches to report and support stories that explore solutions to challenges.
Has experience with or ideas about the many ways newsrooms can inform the public.
Has experience working with others. Wisconsin Watch is a deeply collaborative organization. Our journalists frequently team up with each other or with colleagues at other news outlets to maximize the potential impact of our reporting.
Bonus skills:
Familiarity with Wisconsin, its history and its politics.
Beat reporting experience.
Spanish-language proficiency.
Don’t check off every box in the requirements listed above? Please apply anyway! Wisconsin Watch is dedicated to building an inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible workplace that fosters a sense of belonging – so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to still consider submitting an application. You may be just the right candidate for this role or another one of our openings!
Location: The reporter must be located in Wisconsin. Wisconsin Watch is a statewide news organization with staff based in Madison, Milwaukee and Green Bay.
Salary and benefits: The salary range is $50,000-$70,000. Benefits include five weeks of vacation; paid sick leave and family and caregiver leave; 75% reimbursement for silver-tier health and dental insurance on the federal exchange; 100% vision insurance coverage; $100 per paycheck automatic employer contribution to a 403(b) retirement plan (no match required) after 90 days.
Final offer amounts will carefully consider multiple factors, and higher compensation may be available for someone with advanced skills and/or experience.
Deadline: Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. For best consideration, apply by June 2.
To apply: Please submit a single PDF of your resume and work samples and answer some brief questions in this application form. If you’d like to chat about the job before applying, contact Managing Editor Jim Malewitz at jmalewitz@wisconsinwatch.org.
Wisconsin Watch is dedicated to improving our newsroom by better reflecting the people we cover. We are committed to diversity and building an inclusive environment for people of all backgrounds and ages. We especially encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and people with disabilities. We are an equal-opportunity employer and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, or any other status protected under applicable law.
About Wisconsin Watch and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Founded in 2009, Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit news organization dedicated to producing independent, nonpartisan journalism that makes the communities of Wisconsin strong, informed and connected. We believe that access to truthful local news is critical to a healthy democracy and to finding solutions to the most pressing problems of everyday life. Under the Wisconsin Watch umbrella, we have multiple news departments including a statewide investigative and explanatory projects team, a Capitol bureau, a regional collaboration in northeast Wisconsin called the NEW News Lab, and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service (NNS).
NNS was founded in 2011 as a mission-driven newsroom that reports on and celebrates Milwaukee’s central city neighborhoods. Through its reporting, website, e-newsletters and News414 texting service, NNS covers ordinary people who do extraordinary things, connects readers with resources and serves as a watchdog for their neighbors. Together, Wisconsin Watch’s state team and NNS reporters collaborate to produce solutions-oriented investigative and explanatory stories highlighting issues affecting communities in Milwaukee.
Wisconsin Watch journalists have been recognized for their work at the state and national level in recent months.
The Religion News Association awarded Phoebe Petrovic first place in its Award for Excellence in Religion Reporting — Online-only News Outlets category for her stories on radical Wisconsin pastor Matthew Trewhella and a visually stunning explainer on the origins of Christian nationalism. Both were done as part of ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network fellowship.
Petrovic also was named among the finalists for the Toner Prize in national political reporting for her stories on Trewhella and Christian nationalism. And her Trewhella story received a second place Award of Excellence in the Wilbur Awards, which recognize national reporting on religious issues in public media.
The RNA also awarded former Wisconsin Watch intern Rachel Hale first place for the Chandler Award for Excellence in Student Religion Reporting for her coverage about the strain of the Israel-Hamas war on Wisconsin’s Jewish community. Her entry included her Wisconsin Watch fact brief that debunked a viral story about a pro-Palestinian protest chant.
The North American Agricultural Journalists awarded Bennet Goldstein a first place award in news for his story on how AI and satellites are being used to detect illegal manure spills in Wisconsin. He was also part of a team of journalists who received second place in special projects for their coverage of the Mississippi River Basin, including Goldstein’s story on whether a Chesapeake Bay conservation strategy could help.
Wisconsin Watch, a nonprofit newsroom that uses journalism to make the communities of Wisconsin strong, informed and connected, seeks a senior reporter to lead our newsroom’s state government coverage.
The successful candidate will be responsible for producing regular coverage of state government policy and politics with a premium on explaining how they affect the public and how citizens can stay in charge of their government. Coverage will include regular stories that provide context and deepen understanding about state government activities, explain what elected representatives are up to for areas of the state with no Capitol coverage, and deliver high-impact investigative and explanatory solutions. A top-tier candidate will already have a following on social media and be comfortable discussing Wisconsin politics on radio, TV and podcasts and in other web-based formats. Our aim is to deliver important state government news and knowledge to people through their preferred format and channels, whether that’s shared social videos, concise newsletter summaries or compelling narratives.
Job duties
The statehouse reporter will:
Produce weekly news and analysis content for the Monday newsletter Forward.
Produce substantive investigations that examine societal problems and explore solutions.
Participate in weekly planning meetings to map out short- and long-term coverage plans.
Mentor interns and other reporters in state government reporting.
Engage in opportunities to share reporting with media partners.
Report to state editor Matthew DeFour as part of a team with two other reporters and interns.
Required qualifications: The ideal candidate will bring a public service mindset and a demonstrated commitment to nonpartisan journalism ethics, including a commitment to abide by Wisconsin Watch’s ethics policies.
More specifically, we’re looking for a reporter who:
Has covered government and shown the ability to develop sources, find important stories and inform the public about what their elected representatives are up to.
Brings a nimble, innovative mindset — Wisconsin Watch is exploring the frontiers of nonprofit journalism, and we want reporters who bring ideas about how to grow our audience and deliver meaningful information to the people who need it most.
Is committed to nonpartisan reporting focused on identifying problems as well as best-practice solutions.
Key bonus skills:
Data reporting expertise.
Spanish language fluency.
Experience with audio and video storytelling.
Location: The reporter will be based in Madison with desks in both the Capitol press room and our Wisconsin Watch newsroom in Madison.
Salary and benefits: The annual salary range is $60,000-$80,000. Benefits include five weeks of vacation; paid sick leave and family and caregiver leave; 75% reimbursement for silver-tier health and dental insurance on the federal exchange; 100% vision insurance coverage; $100 per paycheck automatic employer contribution to a 403(b) retirement plan (no match required).
Final offer amounts will carefully consider multiple factors and higher compensation may be available for someone with advanced skills and/or experience.
Deadline: May 30, 2025
To apply: Please submit a PDF of your resume, work samples and answer some brief questions in this application form. If you’d like to chat about the job before applying, contact Hiring Manager Matthew DeFour at mdefour@wisconsinwatch.org.
Wisconsin Watch is dedicated to improving our newsroom by better reflecting the people we cover. We are committed to diversity and building an inclusive environment for people of all backgrounds and ages. We are an equal-opportunity employer and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, or any other status protected under applicable law.
About Wisconsin Watch and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Founded in 2009, Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit news organization dedicated to producing independent, nonpartisan journalism that makes the communities of Wisconsin strong, informed and connected. We believe that access to truthful local news is critical to a healthy democracy and to finding solutions to the most pressing problems of everyday life. Under the Wisconsin Watch umbrella, we have multiple news departments including a statewide investigative and explanatory projects team, a Capitol bureau, a regional collaboration in northeast Wisconsin called the NEW News Lab, and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service (NNS).
NNS was founded in 2011 as a mission-driven newsroom that reports on and celebrates Milwaukee’s central city neighborhoods. Through its reporting, website, e-newsletters and News414 texting service, NNS covers ordinary people who do extraordinary things, connects readers with resources and serves as a watchdog for their neighbors. Together, Wisconsin Watch’s state team and NNS reporters collaborate to produce solutions-oriented investigative and explanatory stories highlighting issues affecting communities in Milwaukee.
Wisconsin Watch seeks a resourceful and ambitious philanthropy officer to support our fund development work in southeastern Wisconsin and the greater Milwaukee area.
The philanthropy officer will be a key member of the philanthropy team, responsible for cultivating and expanding our charitable support. This role will focus on donor cultivation and growing a regionally based portfolio. The right candidate will be effective in building and maintaining relationships with individual donors, foundations and corporate foundations and collaborating with the philanthropy team on fundraising campaigns and stewardship events. The philanthropy officer will play a critical role in ensuring our organization can continue producing excellent nonpartisan, solutions-oriented journalism that strengthens the communities we serve.
Duties and responsibilities
Relationship and portfolio development:
Build and manage a regionally based portfolio of donors.
Prospect identification: Research and identify potential major donors who have a passion for our work and have the capacity to make significant gifts.
Relationship building: Collaborate with the director of philanthropy, CEO and Milwaukee NNS executive director to craft funder outreach, write personalized communication and conduct in-person meetings. Steward donors and maintain relationships.
Gift solicitation: Approach qualified donors to solicit gifts, effectively articulating the impact of our work and how it overlaps with the donor’s passions.
Collaborate internally with business and editorial staff to craft meaningful donor interactions and proposals.
Act as an ambassador to southeastern Wisc0nsin, attending relevant community events and networking opportunities.
Meet established fundraising goals to support organizational needs.
Systems:
Maintain best practice standards when it comes to record keeping, including logging contact reports to the donor database/CRM.
Collaborate with the associate director of philanthropy to analyze weekly gift reports, customize acknowledgement copy and route letters for approvals and signatures.
Draft acknowledgment letter templates and refresh/update content on a biannual basis.
Partner with the business team on database policies and best practices in record keeping.
Other duties:
Track key initiatives, monitor deadlines and coordinate with teams to ensure the timely execution of goals.
Perform other major donor/development activities as may be required (i.e. tours, public speaking or spokesperson activities).
Collaborate with the philanthropy team on stewardship event execution.
Serve as a community ambassador/spokesperson as needed.
Support proposal development and grant writing as needed.
Qualifications
Excels at relationship building and connecting impact-driven missions with individual passions.
Has experience with high-touch fundraising and gift solicitation.
Displays a desire to work with culturally diverse populations using a compassionate, collaborative and respectful approach.
Responsive, tactful and professional, possessing a relationship-centric mindset.
Thrives in high-pressure environments and remains adaptable amid changing priorities.
Demonstrates a proactive, creative, problem-solving mindset with a focus on outcomes. Demonstrates a commitment to looking for solutions and opportunities for collaboration.
Is highly organized, detail-oriented and capable of juggling multiple priorities.
Is familiar and comfortable with various technologies, from Google Workspace (Sheets, Docs, etc.) and CRMs to social platforms, ensuring smooth execution of tasks and communication across different tools.
Preferred qualifications:
5+ years’ experience in nonprofit fundraising, stewardship, donor relations, project management and/or a related area.
Proficient in Google Suite, MS Office, Word, Excel, and Outlook.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Passion for journalism, local news, media, and/or civic engagement.
Location: The philanthropy officer will be located in southeastern Wisconsin, preferably the greater Milwaukee area.
Status, salary and benefits:
Full time, hybrid position.
Salary: $60,000 – $80,000. Final salary offer amounts will carefully consider multiple factors, including prior experience, expertise and location.
5 weeks of vacation, retirement fund contribution, paid sick days, paid family and caregiver leave, subsidized medical and dental premiums, vision coverage, and more.
Deadline: Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. For best consideration, apply by May 30, 2025.
To apply: Please submit your resume in this application form and answer each of these three questions in 50 words or less.
Wisconsin Watch is dedicated to improving our newsroom by better reflecting the people we cover. We are committed to diversity and building an inclusive environment for people of all backgrounds and ages. We especially encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and people with disabilities. We are an equal opportunity employer and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, or any other status protected under applicable law.
About Wisconsin Watch and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Founded in 2009, Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit news organization dedicated to producing nonpartisan journalism that makes the communities of Wisconsin strong, informed and connected. We believe that access to local representative news is critical to a healthy democracy and to finding solutions to the most pressing problems of everyday life. Under the Wisconsin Watch umbrella, we have three independent news divisions, a statewide investigative newsroom, a regional collaboration in northeast Wisconsin called the NEW News Lab, and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service (NNS). All three divisions maintain their unique reporting areas and together are positioned to grow and serve our communities with greater efficiency and impact.
NNS was founded in 2011 as a mission-driven newsroom that reports on and celebrates Milwaukee’s central city neighborhoods, specifically the city’s Black and Latinx communities. Through NNS’ reporting, website, e-newsletters and News414 texting service, we cover the ordinary people who do extraordinary things, connect readers with resources and serve as a watchdog for our audience. NNS, formerly a part of Marquette University, and Wisconsin Watch have a long history of collaboration. In 2024, NNS moved its administrative home and merged under the Wisconsin Watch umbrella. Together, Wisconsin Watch’s statewide team and NNS’ reporters collaborate to produce statewide investigative stories while highlighting issues impacting communities in Milwaukee.
Death: It’s an unavoidable part of life we often avoid talking about. So folks who are seriously ill may not know how to navigate their final years or months.
Many have turned to hospice care for emotional, physical and spiritual support for themselves and loved ones.
But the national landscape of hospice care is changing, including in Wisconsin. Once run primarily by mission-driven nonprofits, the industry is increasingly privatizing, with private equity playing a growing role.
Wisconsin Watch is partnering with the Multimedia Channels publications Green Bay Press Times, Northwoods Star Journal, Waushara Argus, Merrill Foto News, Marshfield Hub City Times and Wisconsin Rapids City Times to better understand how our communities access hospice and other end-of-life services.
We want to hear your questions and perspectives — whether your experiences have been positive, negative or somewhere in between. Or maybe you’re wondering how to navigate a new experience.
If you’d like to help shape our reporting, please fill out this brief form, and a reporter will follow up. Or feel free to contact Addie Costello directly at acostello@wisconsinwatch.org. We will not publish any details you share without your permission.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
Wisconsin Watch, a nonprofit newsroom that uses journalism to make the communities of Wisconsin strong, informed and connected, seeks a regional editor to launch and lead our northeast Wisconsin bureau — covering Green Bay, Appleton, the Fox Valley and surrounding region.
This position is ideal for someone who believes that local news should be built for people who most need information to navigate their lives and engage with their communities. The right candidate will be a mission-driven, collaborative leader with a track record of producing journalism that investigates problems, explores solutions and serves the public.
Insights from community listening efforts and partnerships with other Wisconsin news organizations, built upon years of collaboration, will help the editor direct the high-impact, responsive coverage that residents deserve.
Wisconsin Watch aims to strengthen the quality of community life and self-government in Wisconsin by providing people with the knowledge they need to navigate their lives, drive forward solutions and hold those with power accountable. We pursue the truth through accurate, fair, independent, rigorous, nonpartisan reporting. We share our stories freely and collaborate with other news organizations that share our independent, nonpartisan, truth-seeking values.
Why northeast Wisconsin?
In our broader efforts to strengthen the local news ecosystem, Wisconsin Watch is launching a bureau that will serve key information and accountability needs of northeast Wisconsin residents. The bureau will build upon the success of the NEW News Lab, a collaborative launched in 2021 that provides technology support, capacity building and funding to boost local journalism and newsrooms in the region. The collaboration’s five other partners include: WPR, FoxValley365, The Post-Crescent, Green Bay Press-Gazette and The Press Times. The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Journalism Department is an educational partner.
Job duties
The editor will:
Work with the managing editor and director of partnerships for northeast Wisconsin to establish and grow Wisconsin Watch’s presence in the region, playing a key role in attracting and retaining talented journalists to staff the bureau.
Work with the director of partnerships for northeast Wisconsin and community ambassadors to understand community information and accountability needs, ensuring that residents’ perspectives shape the bureau’s coverage. This will include helping to identify strategies for meeting folks’ most important news and information needs and for “meeting those audiences where they are” in terms of information levels, preferred formats and distribution channels.
Recruit, lead and edit reporters, overseeing the production of stories that will appear on Wisconsin Watch platforms and be distributed to news outlets across Wisconsin and the country. This may include occasional editing of reporters outside of the region when applicable.
Collaborate with journalists at for-profit and nonprofit news organizations in Wisconsin and across the nation.
Represent Wisconsin Watch at community events, developingrelationships with readers and supporters to ensure we stay embedded and connected in the communities we serve.
Help launch a paid citizen observer team to watch and take notes at public meetings and hearings not covered by journalists.
Required qualifications: The ideal candidate will bring a public service mindset and a demonstrated commitment to nonpartisan journalism ethics, including a commitment to abide by Wisconsin Watch’s ethics policies.
More specifically, we’re looking for a newsroom leader who:
Has at least five years of experience in public affairs journalism, including demonstrated experience in newsroom leadership — such as managing direct reports, mentoring early-career journalists or managing projects.
Is familiar with various waysnewsrooms can inform the public — from narrative investigations and features to Q&As and “how-to” explainers to visual stories, interactive graphics and social videos.
Has demonstrated experience collaborating across and/or outside of an organization.
Has experience in WordPress or similar content management systems.
Bonus skills:
Has familiarity with northeast Wisconsin, its history and its politics.
Has experience setting strategic priorities and vision.
Can communicate in multiple languages, particularly Spanish.
Location: This editor will be located in northeast Wisconsin.
Salary and benefits: The salary range is $65,000-$80,000. Final offer amounts will carefully consider multiple factors, and higher compensation may be available for someone with advanced skills and/or experience. Wisconsin Watch offers competitive benefits, including generous vacation (five weeks), a retirement fund contribution, paid sick days, paid family and caregiver leave, subsidized medical and dental premiums, vision coverage, and more.
Deadline: Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. For best consideration, apply by May 6, 2025.
To apply: Please submit a PDF of your resume, work samples and answer some brief questions in this application form. If you’d like to chat about the job before applying, contact Managing Editor Jim Malewitz at jmalewitz@wisconsinwatch.org.
Wisconsin Watch is dedicated to improving our newsroom by better reflecting the people we cover. We are committed to diversity and building an inclusive environment for people of all backgrounds and ages. We are an equal-opportunity employer and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, or any other status protected under applicable law.
If you want to understand how Wisconsin Supreme Court elections became so political — with a record $100 million spent on this year’s nasty contest — it’s helpful to trace the history of former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman.
Gableman’s career began full of promise, diligence and ambition. His cousin told Wisconsin Watch’s Tom Kertscher that at a young age Gableman “was always the adult in the room.”
But over the course of his career he became entangled in partisan politics.
Gableman was willing to travel hundreds of miles to take political appointments around the state, even receiving a Burnett County judgeship for which he didn’t apply. Gov. Scott McCallum acknowledged to Wisconsin Watch part of the reason he picked Gableman was he was a Republican supporter, bypassing two local finalists recommended by McCallum’s advisory committee for judicial appointments.
When Gableman ran for Wisconsin Supreme Court, he authorized a misleading, racially charged political ad against his opponent. At the time it was shocking enough to draw a formal complaint, but the Supreme Court couldn’t agree if it violated the judicial code of conduct. Now, you couldn’t turn on the TV or scroll social media before this year’s April 1 election without a faceful of misleading ads.
Despite his staunch Republican presence on the state’s high court, writing key opinions on Act 10 and dismissing an investigation into Gov. Scott Walker, Gableman fell out of favor with the party after he attended the 2016 Republican National Convention, in possible violation of judicial rules against partisanship. After causing disturbances in hospitality suites, he had to be escorted to his hotel. Party support for him waned. He decided, at age 50, not to run for a second 10-year term.
And yet, when President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, Republicans called upon Gableman, who worked in Trump’s first administration, to investigate the results. Gableman found no evidence the election results were fraudulent and was called an “embarrassment” by the same Republican leader who hired him. The investigation ultimately cost taxpayers $2.8 million, four times more than its original budget. Now he’s facing a three-year suspension of his law license for his unprofessional conduct during the investigation.
The courts are not supposed to be subject to the same political whims of the legislative and executive branches. Supreme Court justices and judges run for office during nonpartisan spring elections for a reason.
As Kertscher’s account of Gableman’s career shows, raw power politics created this situation. It will be up to the public to decide if it wants something better.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
Are you a young person, or a parent of a young person, trying to figure out what to do after high school?
Are you an adult who’d like to change careers but you’re not sure how, or you think the obstacles are too big to overcome? Or do you love the work you do but wish it paid enough to support your family?
Are you an employer with big plans for your company, if you could just find workers with the right skills and training?
We want to hear from you as Wisconsin Watch launches a new beat. We’re calling it pathways to success, and it explores how schools and institutions are preparing people to find quality, family-sustaining jobs in Wisconsin’s current and future economy and how they could do better. In short, we’ll focus on the jobs people want and need, and what’s getting in their way.
I’m Natalie Yahr, Wisconsin Watch’s first pathways to success reporter, and I’ve thought about this issue for more than a decade. Before this job, I spent about six years at the Cap Times, where I reported on the important jobs Wisconsin will most struggle to fill in the future, efforts of workers to organize and the obstacles they sometimes encounter when they do. For several years before that, I was a teacher and success coach for adult students seeking to get their high school equivalency diplomas, start new careers or just learn basic skills they’d missed.
With this new beat, we aim to answer questions like why it’s often tricky for foreign-trained professionals to restart their careers in Wisconsin, what it would take to make some of the state’s fast-growing-but-low-paying jobs more sustainable and how are state and local governments investing in programs that prepare workers for changes in the economy. These are some initial questions we have, but to make this beat work, we need to hear yours.
Your suggestions and experiences will shape what we cover and how. Call or email me at 608-616-0752 or nyahr@wisconsinwatch.org, in English or Spanish.
I won’t be the only one covering this important beat for Wisconsin Watch. We’re looking to hire an additional pathways reporter to specifically serve people in northeast Wisconsin, while I’ll explore issues that resonate statewide. I expect we’ll collaborate plenty.
We’ll know we’re doing this reporting well if it helps people discover new opportunities or make informed choices about their careers. As we start publishing these stories, please let us know what you think.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
On Wednesday, March 26, at 4 p.m. Central time, Wisconsin Watch will host a free, live Zoom discussion about the upcoming state Supreme Court election.
The event will feature a conversation between Wisconsin Watch statehouse reporter Jack Kelly and state bureau chief Matthew DeFour.
The link to RSVP is here, and full background details are below.
On April 1, voters will decide what direction the Wisconsin Supreme Court will shift, and there are only two possible outcomes: a guaranteed liberal majority until 2028 or a 3-3 split with Justice Brian Hagedorn, a conservative-leaning swing vote, again wielding outsized influence.
The two candidates are Susan Crawford, a Dane County judge endorsed by the court’s four current liberal members, and former Attorney General Brad Schimel, a Republican who now serves as a Waukesha County judge.
The actions of the state Supreme Court are a major focus for our team — in the final days before Wisconsin voters decide on the future shape of the court, we wanted to create a space for questions and thoughtful discussion.
Following the success of previous events, we’ll have that discussion as a live Zoom event hosted by state bureau chief Matthew DeFour and statehouse reporter Jack Kelly, who first wrote about the race back in January and again this month and has kept subscribers to our Monday morning newsletter, Forward, up to speed with the latest developments in the contest.
We want this discussion to be shaped by your questions, concerns and thoughts about the role of the state Supreme Court and the issues that may be determined by its members in the coming months.
You can submit yours when you RSVP using the form here or by emailing events@wisconsinwatch.org. If you are interested in the event but aren’t sure if you’ll be able to attend, register anyway — it’s free, and we will send everyone who registers a link to the full video after the event is over.
Finally, while the event is free to attend, it isn’t free to produce. If you can afford to make a donation to offset our costs, you’ll join a growing group of ordinary people funding local news.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
Wisconsin Watch, a nonprofit newsroom that uses journalism to make the communities of Wisconsin strong, informed and connected, seeks a pathways to success reporter to expand our coverage of issues surrounding postsecondary education and workforce training in northeast Wisconsin. The right candidate will be a curious, collaborative, deep listener who can understand bureaucracies and economic trends that affect people’s lives.
Description
Wisconsin Watch provides trustworthy reporting that investigates problems, explores solutions and serves the public. We aim to strengthen the quality of community life and self-government in Wisconsin by providing people with the knowledge they need to navigate their lives, drive forward solutions and hold those with power accountable. We pursue the truth through accurate, fair, independent, rigorous, nonpartisan reporting. We share our stories freely and collaborate with other news organizations that share our independent, nonpartisan, truth-seeking values.
Why pathways to success?
Funding cuts and other financial pressures have forced higher education institutions to rely more heavily on tuition — increasing affordability challenges for students and affecting the quality of education. Meanwhile, Wisconsin faces a shortage of skilled workers, including in manufacturing, construction, health care, agriculture and information technology. This shortage is exacerbated by an aging workforce, particularly in rural areas, and a gap between the skills employers need and those job seekers have.
Reporting on this beat will help policymakers and civic leaders understand how to expand pathways to jobs. It will also help Wisconsin residents learn the skills needed to build thriving careers. We’re taking a different approach to higher education coverage than news outlets have historically taken. Rather than prioritizing breaking news or scandals at major universities, we’re centering the experiences of learners, families and employers to better understand how the state’s broader postsecondary landscape meets their needs. That includes paying close attention to technical colleges and trades programs.
Why northeast Wisconsin?
In our broader efforts to strengthen the local news ecosystem, Wisconsin Watch is launching a bureau that will serve key information and accountability needs of northeast Wisconsin residents. The bureau will build upon the success of the NEW News Lab, a collaborative launched in 2021 that provides technology support, capacity building and funding to boost local journalism and newsrooms in the region. The collaboration’s five other partners include: WPR, FoxValley365, The Post-Crescent, Green Bay Press-Gazette and The Press Times. The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Journalism Department is an educational partner.
Job duties
The reporter will:
Work with the northeast Wisconsin editor and other colleagues to frame, report and write news stories that serve northeast Wisconsin. These stories will appear on Wisconsin Watch platforms and be distributed to news outlets across Wisconsin and the country.
Listen to those struggling to find family-supporting jobs and to those unable to fill positions to find disconnects among workforce recruitment, development and training and those who are underemployed. Find evidence-based best practices to address this challenge.
Follow up on tips from community members and leaders and develop locally focused stories based on information needs identified in community listening sessions.
Develop sources in secondary and postsecondary education, industries struggling to fill jobs, workforce development, labor and the general public to identify breakdowns in systems, information gaps and success stories that could inform pathways to success.
Research the jobs that will be in high demand for years to come to inform reporting on effective programs for gaining the necessary skills to perform these jobs, from jobs in nursing and health care, where demographics show increasing demand, to developing technologies, such as those in artificial intelligence and robotics.
Work with the northeast Wisconsin editor, community ambassadors and audience team to identify key target audiences for this beat and develop strategies for “meeting those audiences where they are” in terms of information levels, preferred formats and distribution channels.
Cultivate collegial and productive relationships with collaborating news organizations to gather and analyze data, research best practices and maximize impact on stories with national scope. This includes Open Campus, a national news network aiming to improve higher education coverage, and NEW News Lab partners.
Required qualifications: The ideal candidate will bring a public service mindset and a demonstrated commitment to nonpartisan journalism ethics, including a commitment to abide by Wisconsin Watch’s ethics policies. More specifically, we’re looking for a reporter who:
Has researched, reported and written original published news stories and/or features on deadline.
Has demonstrated the ability to formulate compelling story pitches to editors.
Aches to report stories that explore solutions to challenges residents face.
Has experience with or ideas about the many ways newsrooms can inform the public — from narrative investigations and features to Q&As and “how-to” explainers or visual stories.
Has experience working with others. Wisconsin Watch is a deeply collaborative organization. Our journalists frequently team up with each other or with colleagues at other news outlets to maximize the potential impact of our reporting.
Bonus skills:
Be able to analyze and visually present data.
Familiarity with Wisconsin, its history and its politics.
Multimedia skills including photography, audio and video.
Ability to communicate multiple languages, particularly Spanish.
Location: The pathways to success reporter will be located in northeast Wisconsin.
Salary and benefits: The salary range is $45,500-$64,500. Final offer amounts will carefully consider multiple factors, and higher compensation may be available for someone with advanced skills and/or experience. Wisconsin Watch offers competitive benefits, including generous vacation (five weeks), a retirement fund contribution, paid sick days, paid family and caregiver leave, subsidized medical and dental premiums, vision coverage, and more.
Deadline: Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.
If you’d like to chat about the job before applying, contact Managing Editor Jim Malewitz at jmalewitz@wisconsinwatch.org.
Wisconsin Watch is dedicated to improving our newsroom by better reflecting the people we cover. We are committed to diversity and building an inclusive environment for people of all backgrounds and ages. We are an equal-opportunity employer and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, or any other status protected under applicable law.
For a data journalist, this removal and possible manipulation of federal data are concerning and frustrating because it limits the information we can use to make sense of our world.
What exactly is data journalism? The term might confuse some people. To me it means using numbers to investigate inequity and injustice and find patterns and anomalies in an otherwise anecdotal world.
Credible and accessible federal, state and local data make such investigations possible, allowing us to identify solutions to challenges that affect Wisconsin communities. Journalists are hardly the only people to rely on such data. Federal data sets are used by researchers, public officials and students across the world to understand our communities.
Certain changes to government websites under a new president are relatively common, as illustrated by the End of Term web archive. The archive has, since 2008, preserved information from government websites at the end of presidential terms — collecting terabytes of information. The difference this time? The Trump administration has sought to tear apart full data sets to remove information it doesn’t like, particularly data related to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.
A stark example is the Youth Risk Behavior Survey — a nationally representative study that “measures health-related behaviors and experiences that can lead to death and disability among youth and adults.” The survey produced volumes of data, which could help communities understand how race, mental health, gender identity and sexual orientation shape health-related behaviors. The data was temporarily taken offline until a court order required the Department of Health and Human Services to restore the website.
A note on the website now says, in part: “This page does not reflect biological reality and therefore the Administration and this Department rejects it.”
Still, like with other restored websites, we don’t know whether information has been scrubbed or changed to conform with the Trump administration’s worldview. We don’t know whether other data or information will change without notice.
But these archivists can save only what is already available. They can’t tell us what is being removed or manipulated before data reaches the public. They can’t tell us what information is being kept secret. Americans have long disagreed on politics, and that’s OK. Partisan debate is healthy and necessary in a democracy. But partisanship is now sowing mistrust in the data we rely on to tell the American story.
And right now? We need concrete facts more than ever.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the firehose of news stories documenting Donald Trump’s return to the presidency, I don’t blame you. I feel the same way, even though it’s my job to stay plugged in.
Whether you love or loathe the sweeping change in Washington, this much is clear: It will deeply affect the lives of Wisconsin residents. For many people, that’s already begun — whether they rely on a canceled contract, lost their federal job or face a service disruption.
The sheer volume of consequential storylines worth exploring could paralyze journalists, tempting them to spend more time reacting to officials than listening to the public’s information needs.
As Wisconsin Watch considers how best to keep communities connected and informed, we’re trying to stick to our strengths. Among them:
Bottom-up reporting that prioritizes your questions and tips — like Phoebe Petrovic’s story on disrupted transgender care services at Children’s Wisconsin hospital in Milwaukee, or Addie Costello’s ongoing coverage of what potential cuts to Medicaid funding mean for residents. (Watch for more localized Medicaid stories in the coming weeks.)
Collaboration — because no newsroom can cover everything alone. Wisconsin Watch distributes our reporting for free and often teams up with other newsrooms on big stories. But we also strive to amplify the stellar work of our partners. That means rounding up top headlines in our Wisconsin Weekly newsletter or republishing stories from other partners that generously share their work, such as WPR, Floodlight, ProPublica and the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk. We also use our Associated Press subscription to bring you some of the biggest stories of the day, unobscured by paywalls.
As we forge ahead into an unpredictable future, we hope to hear from you. Please keep sending us your tips, questions and feedback. We’ll do our best to respond to the moment.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
How we’re covering federal upheaval is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
Addie Costello here, Wisconsin Watch reporter and WPR investigative reporting fellow. Most of my reporting focuses on issues related to health care, and my editor asked me to write a bit about how tips have shaped my stories.
First, you have to know that I have an unbreakable phone pacing habit. My family mocks the little circles I make — in and out of the kitchen and up and down the living room — when I get a call. Sometimes I spend hours a week pacing across our newsroom.
While walking back and forth in our office hallway as many as 20 times a day can get tiring, the reason I’m doing it always gets me excited, particularly when I’m calling people who filled out our tip form.
Still, many of the people I talk to don’t end up in my stories, at least not immediately.
That’s not because their stories aren’t interesting or important. Usually it’s just a timing issue. Sometimes my plate is already full with other stories, or another newsroom may have covered something similar. We strive to focus on stories other newsrooms haven’t told. But the conversations always prove helpful. Hearing about the same issue again and again helps us better understand it and realize how many people it affects.
So, if you’ve ever talked to me as I paced around the Wisconsin Watch office, thank you. And if you think you might have a story, send us a tip. It will do more than help me reach my step goals for the day.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
On Jan. 22, Wisconsin Watch reporter Hallie Claflin and photojournalist Joe Timmerman joined a group of volunteers in Jefferson County overnight to observe the annual “point in time” count of the homeless population. These counts are conducted on the same night in January across the country to provide a one-night snapshot of homelessness.
What did they find? A pair of dedicated volunteers and a count that, while increasing, still struggles to capture the true homeless population, especially in rural areas.
What made us interested in observing the PIT count?
In December, we traveled four hours to the small town of Shell Lake where a homeless father and daughter who had been living in their car for over a year gave us a glimpse into their everyday lives. After extensively investigating the rural homelessness crisis across the state, we realized this family wouldn’t have shown up in the January PIT count because they were temporarily staying in a friend’s basement.
We wanted to understand who actually gets counted, and who doesn’t. The unhoused population is increasing, but who is missing from the data?
What we saw
After attending Gov. Tony Evers’ State of the State address at the State Capitol in the evening, we hopped in the car and headed to Jefferson County for the late night count. We rode along with the volunteers as they surveyed the county. A fresh layer of snow added even more bite to the single-digit temperature, and we couldn’t stand outside for much longer than a few minutes before retreating to the heated car.
In Johnson Creek, we found cars lined up in the back of a local restaurant and truck stop. Here, several people were found sleeping in their vehicles, one with a child in the back. The volunteers, Sandy Hahn and Britanie Peaslee, were quick to give them an extra blanket. The woman and child inside had been living in the van for six months, and she was working at the restaurant.
On the drive, the pair shared stories about past PIT counts they had participated in. We followed along as they drove through parking lots, checked around corners, went into public bathrooms, searched rest stops, and asked gas station workers if they had seen anyone who was unhoused.
Another person sleeping in a car wouldn’t engage with them. Because of this, they couldn’t verbally verify that they were homeless, which means they weren’t included in the official count. The car was running — likely for warmth — and the windows were covered with blankets for privacy.
We quickly realized many unhoused people aren’t included in the count based on this rule alone, among the many other restrictions on who they can count.
The volunteers left a blanket on the windshield and continued on, acknowledging that if in their position, they would also be hesitant to talk to two strangers at 2 a.m. in the snow.
Peaslee and Hahn were thorough in their search and were one of four groups covering the county.
It was clear the volunteers could search all day and all night and still never find a fraction of the total population, but they do their best with the guidelines they are given.
We parted ways around 4 a.m. — barely staying awake — and made it back to our warm apartments by 4:30.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
Bennet Goldstein: Water cooler conversations rarely get as quirky as strategizing the best ways to obtain photographs of cute, occasionally destructive rodents. But for nearly a month it was all I could discuss.
From equipment purchases to road trip plotting, our team’s preparation to spot a beaver was either a lesson in steadfast resolve or overkill.
With a car weighed down by plenty of granola, trail mix and Goldfish crackers, Wisconsin Watch photojournalist Joe Timmerman, videographer Trisha Young and I spent a stretch of October driving through Wisconsin’s Driftless Area and Central Sands to report a series of solutions-focused news stories. We sought to learn how beavers and their dams could mitigate severe flooding and drought, which Wisconsin and other Midwestern states increasingly face due to climate change.
Wisconsin Watch reporter Bennet Goldstein drives down the highway at sunrise to meet with a source during a multi-day reporting trip with Wisconsin Watch audio/video producer Trisha Young and photojournalist Joe Timmerman on Oct. 25, 2024, in Alma Center, Wis. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
I could not write about beavers without capturing one on camera, a task that has even on occasion flummoxed The New York Times.
Thankfully, a grant from the Solutions Journalism Network helped fund this undertaking.
We splashed through streams, bushwhacked through brush and hopscotched through reed grass to locate dry land where we might capture an image of our elusive furry target.
***
Last summer, I took a reporting trip to Viroqua for a different story with colleagues from the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk. There, former Vernon County Conservationist Ben Wojahn described a dilemma facing western Wisconsin communities as they consider removing failing flood control dams constructed by the federal government in the mid-1900s.
Maintaining the structures would cost more than their value, according to evaluations, but cutting gaps into them without backup protections left residents feeling insecure and unprepared for future floodwaters.
In an ideal world, Wojahn suggested, the county could bring in wood-chomping beavers to slow the flow by building nature’s dams.
What would that take?
Beaver relocation has happened before. Natural resources officials in Idaho and California famously parachuted the critters into hard-to-reach mountainous regions in the late 1940s and 1950s.
Such measures probably don’t make sense in Wisconsin, where beaver colonies polka-dot the state.
But how to find one?
Scientists warned me spotting beavers in the wild is exceptionally difficult, adding that they are typically active in the wee morning hours and at dusk. Their astute smelling and hearing senses warn them of peepers.
Wisconsin Watch reporter Bennet Goldstein tries out a hunting shroud he ordered in preparation for photographing beavers on Oct. 8, 2024, at the Wisconsin Watch office in Madison, Wis. He ultimately decided the netting was too noisy and inconvenient to use. (Coburn Dukehart / CatchLight)
Then again, these researchers had not attempted to disguise themselves as piles of grass.
I initially considered purchasing ghillie suits, but the thought of spending hours commando-crawling in an outfit meant to resemble foliage sounded unappealing.
We ruled out the prospect of wading into lake shallows because Joe had rented a camera lens worth $10,000. Shrouding ourselves beneath synthetic netting would create too much noise when we stopped to pick our noses or stretch a hamstring.
I turned to wildlife photographers.
Blogs offered many tips. One professional recommended hiding in shrubbery and shadows, but he urged the adventurous to be wary of ticks.
Then it dawned on me I might be overthinking this exercise. I could instead take inspiration from hunters who have plenty of tools for quietly stalking prey. I settled on a pop-up blind and silent swivel chair.
We needed only to locate a beaver lodge and lurk.
A beaver lodge is seen alongside trees in a pond on Katie McCullough’s property as a train rumbles down the track nearby, Oct. 23, 2024, in Rio, Wis. McCullough installed a pond leveler on her property after discovering an active beaver lodge and dam. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
***
One October afternoon, Joe and I canoed across a pond near the village of Rio. We passed pond scum and lily pad patches before arriving at a rickety duck hunting stand, its wood warped and spotted with exposed nails.
I steadied the canoe as Joe lunged for a foothold on the water-encircled platform. It wobbled under his weight. We eased the gear atop the stand as the sun hung low in the sky.
“What’s going on?” I said, bobbing in the canoe as he unfurled the blind.
Joe laughed.
“Is this the first of many firsts of the lengths to which we’re going?” I asked, recording the moment on a GoPro. “You’re going into a special wildlife viewing tent with a hunting chair and hunkering down for the next hour in hopes of spotting a rodent.”
Joe had spotty cell reception, so we agreed I would return at dusk if I didn’t hear from him first.
Wisconsin Watch investigative reporter Bennet Goldstein paddles a canoe across Katie McCullough’s pond on her property during a reporting trip, Oct. 18, 2024, in Rio, Wis. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Birds chirped as I paddled back to the car, periodically banging into submerged logs.
I hunched in the front seat, hoping to avoid agitating our host’s yappy dogs, who might scare the beavers. Perched in the host’s living room window, the canines stared me down.
“I’m in my car so they don’t hear me or smell me,” I texted Joe.
A mix of dread and boredom set in as I waited, praying this would be our only beaver-spotting attempt.
An hour passed. Sandhill cranes warbled in the distance.
Joe texted.
“It just barely stuck its head above water then dove back down but I got pictures of one!!!!”
A beaver swims across a pond on Katie McCullough’s property, Oct. 23, 2024, in Rio, Wis. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
*** A photojournalist’s view ***
Joe Timmerman: As my heartbeat quickened I shifted the camera’s gears, quietly racing to document our first beaver sighting without disturbing the natural moment.
I’ve photographed surveyors in the world’s longest cave on 16-hour expeditions, woken up hours before dawn to see Indiana’s returned bison under the rising sun and hovered inches away from bats suffering from white nose syndrome in Texas. But I had never undertaken an assignment like this.
When Bennet asked how I felt about the lengths we had taken to photograph these cunning Castorids, all I could do was laugh.
Spend pieces of a month traveling across south-central Wisconsin’s beautiful landscape to prove skeptical experts wrong — and serve our readers — by returning with photos of North America’s largest rodent?
I was all in.
After our first surprise sighting near Rio we tested our luck at an additional site. A shared hunch told us we could return home with an even better image. A few days later when we visited Jim Hoffman’s wide-spanning property at Goose Landing, I descended again into Bennet’s hunting tent before dusk.
The setting sun shines through the window of a hunting tent as Wisconsin Watch photojournalist Joe Timmerman sits inside waiting for beavers to emerge from their lodge on a property owned by Jim Hoffman, who is building a series of artificial beaver dams, Oct. 25, 2024, in Alma Center, Wis. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Wisconsin Watch photojournalist Joe Timmerman prepares to spend multiple hours of hiding in a hunting tent to photograph beavers, Oct. 25, 2024, in Alma Center, Wis. (Trisha Young / Wisconsin Watch)
An hour passed. The sun’s setting silhouetted the once-golden, green and yellow surroundings. Then another 30 minutes. My eyes darted between the beavers’ lodge across the pond and their trail to some felled trees nearby that Hoffman had showed us.
A slight movement caught my attention. My eye recognized the unmistakable slicked-back head of a beaver swimming across the pond. Then a second head popped up, and a third.
I zoomed in all the way, pushing our old company camera to the max in the darkening conditions. The mere seconds of opportunity etched the beaver images into the memory card before the animals disappeared beneath the water’s surface.
I waited another 30 minutes before calling it quits due to the lack of natural light. I stepped out of the tent and began packing up our gear, somewhat content but wanting more.
That’s when I saw a beaver swimming directly toward me. I fumbled to pick the camera off the ground, manually spinning the sight into focus when the beaver’s tail slapped the water, sounding a thunderous echo that made me jump.
After spending 11 hours that day making over 1,200 images, I couldn’t believe my sleepy eyes. I flipped through the first few pictures of the tail slap only to discover they were comically out of focus.
A screenshot of Wisconsin Watch photojournalist Joe Timmerman’s Photo Mechanic software shows a sequence of images of beavers swimming across a pond on the property of Jim Hoffman, CEO of Hoffman Construction, as the sun sets Oct. 25, 2024, in Alma Center, Wis.
Moments later, a reprieve. The beaver re-emerged, seeming to look at me as it swam nearby — offering a fresh opportunity to make a better picture.
“All three of them are swimming like 20 feet away from me right now slapping their tails,” I texted Bennet and Trisha as they hid in their car.
“You could probably walk over and come see them.”
After all our silent stalking, the beavers had found us. Rather than rushing away, though, they were lingering — slapping the water to warn others of our presence. As the evening’s first stars appeared above, two swam parallelly in the pond below, putting on a show in trying to shoo us away.
Beavers swim across a pond on the property of Jim Hoffman, CEO of Hoffman Construction, as the sun sets on Oct. 25, 2024, in Alma Center, Wis. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
“On our way!” Trisha replied.
*** A videojournalist’s view ***
Trisha Young: By the time Bennet and I rushed to the pond where Joe was photographing, about five or six beavers were making their rounds on the water. Our arrival seemed to increase their resolve to show us who was boss.
Thwack! The sound of the tail slap made me jump, stopping all of us in our tracks. A short while later, another thwack, then another. The beavers would beeline toward us, slap, then circle back and repeat the admonition.“What brave creatures,” I thought. Their boldness was intimidating, and the idea of being tail-slapped or bitten by their massive teeth was terrifying. Yet I was truly starting to like these hydraulic engineering rodents.
Jim Hoffman, CEO of Hoffman Construction, left, looks at an artificial beaver lodge he built along a pond on his property as Wisconsin Watch photojournalist Joe Timmerman, center, and audio/video producer Trisha Young, right, report on Oct. 25, 2024, in Alma Center, Wis. (Bennet Goldstein / Wisconsin Watch)
Bennet assured Joe and me that beavers would struggle to catch us on land. So I imagined falling to my fate into the dark, beaver-infested waters.
I’ve interacted with beavers before, always while kayaking. I was accustomed to the tail slap, which I always interpreted as a signal that I should keep it moving. But this was something special: a whole colony of beavers.
As I watched one pair of beavers swim side by side — one small, one large — I wondered whether Mama Beaver was showing her youngster how to lay down the law and make their authority known.
The sky turned far too dark for our cameras. We remained captivated by the furry varmints’ antics for about half an hour before finally obliging to their demand.
Beavers swim around a pond, seemingly trying to intimidate onlookers at Goose Landing near Alma Center, Wis. (Trisha Young / Wisconsin Watch)
We headed back to the car, giddy with excitement despite the tiring day reporting at Goose Landing. The encounter was invigorating, even if our cameras couldn’t fully capture the magic we witnessed in the darkness.
The interaction reminded me of something Hoffman emphasized as we traversed the land with him: Beavers have been here for thousands of years.
A trail camera captures a beaver successfully bringing down a tree at Goose Landing. (Courtesy of Jim Hoffman)
The Ojibwe tell stories of Amik, a giant beaver who was given an extraordinary tail and reshaped land across the Midwest. In these stories, the beaver holds a place of significance alongside the wolf, bear and muskrat.
The fur trade in Wisconsin centuries ago decimated millions of beavers and other fur-bearing animals, forever altering ecosystems and Native livelihoods. Tribes were forced to compete with traders for resources, disrupting traditional ways of life.
Now, another shift is underway in wetland conservation, reviving a story about the symbiotic relationship between beavers and humans. I was grateful to glimpse these creatures and document how humans are trying to mimic their engineering to restore Wisconsin wetlands.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
Phoebe Petrovic is a Wisconsin Watch investigative reporter and a fellow in ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network. Her reporting on extremism was also funded by the Poynter Institute. She will be discussing extremism reporting at a live Zoom event on Jan. 29 at 4 p.m. Register here.
On the day of President Donald Trump’s second inauguration, the violent, far-right street gang known as the Proud Boys marched down the streets of Washington, D.C. Hours later, the new president pardoned or commuted the sentences of their leaders and some 1,500 others for storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, struck salutes on stage that neo-Nazis online celebrated (and Musk later downplayed). And in a nod to the Christian nationalists who boosted his campaign, Trump declared the United States would only recognize two sexes, despite science finding it’s not so simple.
It’s clear, today, that extremism reporting matters more than ever. But even just a couple of years ago, I struggled to get pitches accepted on the influence of extremist figures. Once accepted, though, one story turned into a series, each unraveling the thread of increased Christian nationalist influences on politics and, particularly, elections.
I spent the first six months of 2024 investigating Matthew Trewhella, a militant pastor known in the 1990s for his anti-abortion activism.
Trewhella had a reputation for public stunts that raised eyebrows and generated letters to the editor. He had urged an audience to buy their children rifles for Christmas. He even defended the murder of abortion providers. Surely, someone with that record would be a political pariah today, right? But the investigation found that Trewhella’s manifesto of open defiance has influenced Republicans across the country, at all levels of government.
Like others on the Christian right, Trewhella has called for defying the separation between church and state, arguing that officials must answer to God’s law first and the Constitution second. School board members, county officials, state legislators, congresspeople, even former members of Trump’s Cabinet, we found, had praised “the doctrine of the lesser magistrates,” which Trewhella claimed gave them biblical permission to disobey or defy any law, policy or court opinion. For his part, Trewhella dismissed the extremism label, telling me only those with “mundane, self-absorbed lives” would consider someone like him an extremist.
In that first story, I reported on a conservative activist who had used the doctrine as the basis of a nationwide tour, in which he said elections officials should refuse to certify equipment and results on the basis of debunked conspiracy theories. I recounted how a state senator marshaled the doctrine when urging electors to refuse certification. And I discussed the idea’s embrace by some members of the constitutional sheriffs movement, who were also stating their intent to investigate elections.
Reporting that first story, narrowly focused on one person and his impact, revealed the larger theme that would become the subject of the series: the Christian right’s influence on elections.
It was a defining feature of the 2024 presidential election, one Trump acknowledged during his inaugural address when he claimed: “I was saved by God to make America great again.”
The stories reported for Faith in Power, for the most part, took one small aspect of it at a time. We looked for gaps in the national conversation and dug into what we found, building on previous work as we went along. I had read dozens of stories about the potential intervention of poll watchers, for example, but few on poll workers. Yet soon after discovering one self-described Christian nationalist recruiting poll workers, I noticed more, and further reporting revealed a pattern.
What made this worth an investigation was not their Christianity, as one critic claimed, but rather their regurgitation of election conspiracies, disdain for the separation of church and state, and stated goal of helping Trump win office. It was the combination of prophecy and proclamations — that Trump had a divine mandate to become president — and the way they used that to enlist support from hundreds or thousands of people on the ground.
To report these stories, to get the theology and context right, required extensive reading. We decided, in the end, to try to help memorialize what we learned and transform it into a more permanent resource for readers in a “guide” to Christian nationalism. It’s not a traditional investigative piece, but rather a meta-report that helps orient the public, helping to explain how we got to the point where the investigations we broke about poll workers or sheriffs claiming a divine right to disobey the government was even possible.
As the new administration takes office, I’m reflecting on the political trends of the last decade. First, media rushed to cover the “Alt-Right.” Then, the coverage seemed to subside. But the movement didn’t disappear — its ideas just became integrated into the larger political right. Same, too, with conspiracy theories about elections being rigged. Once Trump won, the skepticism about elections seemed to vanish overnight. A focus on “extremism” may go the same way. As those who attempted a violent insurrection get pardoned and walk free, extremism has moved from the margins to the mainstream and taken power. It’s up to journalists to draw the public’s attention to what they do with that power.
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, one of the most ambitious nonprofit local newsrooms in the country, seeks a managing editor to take NNS to new heights in journalism and community engagement. This is a key role in our 14-year-old newsroom focused on serving all of Milwaukee, with a particular focus on its Black and brown communities.
About Milwaukee NNS
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, often referred to as NNS, is an ambitious, collaborative and pioneering news organization that for 14 years has delivered fact-based reporting to communities of color in Milwaukee. In 2024, following many successful collaborations, NNS merged with Wisconsin Watch as part of a bold vision to rebuild local news in Milwaukee and across Wisconsin.
The managing editor is crucial for the vision and for driving NNS’ continued growth and impact. As NNS aims to elevate its community-focused journalism and expand its reach, a strong editorial leader is needed to ensure the delivery of high-quality, impactful content, enhance staff development and collaborate with the NNS executive director to set strategic priorities and vision. This role will amplify NNS’ impact as a vital resource for Milwaukee’s Black and brown communities.
Are you that person?
We’re looking for someone who is:
Both a champion of excellent journalism as well as a champion of the people who produce the excellent work. We seek someone with top-notch leadership skills and impeccable news judgment.
Committed to collaboration, appreciates diversity and inclusion and has a passion for coaching a talented newsroom while juggling multiple projects.
Comfortable working with community residents, students, emerging journalists and seasoned veterans to create stories that resonate with readers who often are neglected, underrepresented or misrepresented by other media outlets.
Committed to excellent community journalism and serving readers, has excellent interpersonal communication skills, is attentive to details but can see the forest from the trees.
Enthusiastic about our mission to paint a complete portrait of our neighbors by intentionally celebrating the ordinary people who do extraordinary things, connecting readers to the resources they need to navigate their lives, serving as a ferocious watchdog on their behalf, and giving them a platform to voice their opinions on issues.
At NNS, our staffers don’t parachute into our communities and then leave: We are embedded in our neighborhoods, and we remain invested in the lives of our readers.
As we inform, we believe we can transform through the power of fact-based multimedia reporting. We are looking for the person who can bring out the best in our staff and who can help us become required reading for all those interested in Milwaukee’s Black and brown communities.
In this role, you will:
Edit stories, graphics and visuals to ensure they meet the high standards of NNS for accuracy, clarity and newsworthiness.
Supervise reporters, photographers, interns and community volunteers.
Lead editorial meetings; coach and collaborate with reporters to identify and prioritize key topics, stories and impactful cross-newsroom special projects.
Assist in managing the newsroom, working collaboratively to craft strategies that further the organization’s mission, including production of efficient and timely content.
Work closely with our community engagement team, which includes News414,our community-centered engagement initiative that uses text messages, social media, events and other tools to listen to and then provide critical information to underserved audiences.
In collaboration with the executive director, help provide strategic direction and vision for the editorial team in alignment with the organization’s mission and goals.
In collaboration with the audience engagement manager, develop and execute content strategies that are revelatory and engaging and support the nonprofit mission, with the goal of getting our stories to a wider audience.
Coordinate regular training sessions to elevate the skills of staff.
Represent NNS at community events to build and maintain relationships with readers and supporters to ensure we stay embedded and connected in the communities we serve.
Collaborate with the business team to support grant applications and donor relations, as needed.
Required skills:
7+ years of journalism experience, with experience managing direct reports.
Outstanding editing, coaching, organizational and communication skills.
Demonstrated ability to multitask and consistently work on deadlines.
Experience in WordPress or similar content management systems.
Self-starting, initiative-taking attitude.
Demonstrated experience collaborating across and outside of an organization.
Curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge are an essential part of who you are.
Copy editing experience, with expertise in SEO headlines and knowledge of AP style.
Bonus skills:
Has experience setting strategic priorities and vision, including content, that advance organizational mission.
Fluent in Spanish.
We know that there will be great candidates who might not check all these boxes or who hold important skills we haven’t listed. Don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself. We especially encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and people with disabilities.We are an equal-opportunity employer and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, or any other status protected under applicable law.
Location: The managing editor should be located in the Milwaukee area.
Salary and benefits: The salary range is $63,500-$80,000. Final offer amounts will carefully consider multiple factors, and higher compensation may be available for someone with advanced skills and/or experience. NNS offers competitive benefits, including generous vacation (five weeks), a retirement fund contribution, paid sick days, paid family and caregiver leave, subsidized medical and dental premiums, vision coverage, and more.
Deadline: Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.
To apply: Please submit a PDF of your resume and a cover letter explaining why you are the best candidate for this job and answer a brief question in the application form. If you’d like to chat about the job before applying, contact Executive Director Ron Smith at rsmith@milwaukeenns.org.
On Wednesday, Jan. 29, at 4 p.m. Central time, Wisconsin Watch will host a free, live Zoom event on the topic of covering political extremism.
The event will feature a conversation between Wisconsin Watch reporter and ProPublica fellow Phoebe Petrovic and state bureau chief Matthew DeFour.
The link to RSVP is here, and full background details are below.
Throughout 2024, Wisconsin Watch reporter and ProPublica fellow Phoebe Petrovic produced multiple in-depth investigative pieces on the complex topic of extremism and the increasing influence of the religious right on American political discourse.
In July, Petrovic reported on the rising influence of militant anti-abortion activist and Wisconsin pastor Matthew Trewhella in the modern Republican Party. While he was a political pariah in the 1990s and 2000s for his extremist views, Trewhella’s teachings have been popping up in debates everywhere from local school boards to state legislatures.
In October, she showed how Trewhella was one character in a much larger story by tracing the long history of the Christian right’s efforts to influence American politics at every level. That same month, as the November election drew closer, Petrovic produced a number of investigative reports. One involved possible tax and election law violations by Vice President-elect JD Vance’s campaign. The other exposed efforts by right-wing activists to recruit poll workers in swing states.
How did Petrovic get started reporting on the topic of extremism? She will answer that question and many others in conversation with Wisconsin Watch state bureau chief Matthew DeFour, in a live Zoom event on Wednesday, Jan. 29, at 4 p.m. Central time.
The event will be a webinar format and will be recorded. Attendees will be emailed a link to the recording following the event, and a selection of clips will be published to our YouTube channel.
Questions can be submitted ahead of time through the RSVP form and will also be collected during the event.
On Oct. 6, Eric Zieroth emailed us with this message: “Local homeless family unable to even use public showers that are maintained by the city government in a community that there’s no help for them in.”
Hallie and photographer Joe Timmerman made the four-hour trek from Madison to Shell Lake to learn more about Eric’s story. As the editor, one thing I emphasized was that telling the story of Eric and his daughter spending last winter in their car as they struggled with health issues, low-wage work and unaffordable housing was only the beginning of a broader story about rural homelessness.
Less than a week after Hallie was the first to report on Wisconsin’s homeless population rising above 5,000 for the first time since 2017 (despite a decline in Milwaukee), national news outlets first reported on an 18% increase in homelessness nationwide. The affordability crisis is hitting home for many in Wisconsin, and though we’ve made strides to improve housing in Milwaukee, rural areas are suffering. Many of these areas are represented by the Republicans who control the Legislature and are in position to steer resources to their communities.
Throughout the upcoming legislative budget session, Hallie will be covering how issues like rural homelessness are addressed, if at all. We’ll continue to put a human face on the problems facing society and hold politicians accountable for finding solutions.
You can help by sending us tips using this form. Or if you have a question about how state government works (or doesn’t work!), you can send it to us here.
Thanks to the dozens of people who have reached out to us in recent months. We can’t necessarily report on every tip, but we do review each one. We’re working on our system to follow up with people who submit tips we’re not well positioned to investigate — to explain why. To prioritize our resources, we focus on stories most likely to resonate with readers and improve lives.
We appreciate hearing from people who trust us with their story or ideas, even when they don’t immediately result in coverage.
After looking into rural homelessness, we saw that it checked multiple boxes for a Wisconsin Watch story.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
Login
