I never expect to see the words “fry bread” in a news story. So when I saw Ron Seely’s in-depth story last July about an Ojibwe encampment to protest the proposed mine in northern Wisconsin, I was impressed.
Setting a scene, Seely wrote: “think fry bread, wild onions and birch bark baskets …”
His storytelling not only made me hungry for fry bread, but for good journalism — the kind with impact.
Lincoln Michel has been a dedicated board member since the Center began. She has helped persuade other news organizations to pick up our stories, which we distribute for free, and she has played an important role in establishing high journalistic standards and raising funds to support our operations.
So we weren’t at all surprised to see her end the feature like this:
Consider making a donation to support impactful journalism with strong storytelling – the kind that has the power to make you hunger for more.
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A look at our high-impact journalism
by Andy Hall / Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch January 9, 2014
Andy Hall, a co-founder of Wisconsin Watch and a former Investigative Reporters and Editors board member, won dozens of awards for his reporting in 26 years at the Wisconsin State Journal and The Arizona Republic. Since the Wisconsin Watch's launch in 2009, he has been responsible for the journalistic and financial operations.
Hall began his career in 1982 as a copyboy at The New York Times. At The Republic, Hall helped break the “Keating Five” scandal involving Sen. John McCain. At the State Journal, Hall’s stories held government and the powerful accountable and protected the vulnerable through coverage that addressed the racial achievement gap in public schools and helped spark the creation of the nationally noted Schools of Hope volunteer tutoring program, revealed NCAA violations by University of Wisconsin athletes, and exposed appalling conditions in neglected neighborhoods such as Allied Drive and Worthington Park. Hall won a first-place award in 2008 for beat reporting from the Education Writers Association. He also has received National Headliner, Gerald Loeb, James K. Batten and Inland Press Association awards for investigative, financial, deadline and civic journalism coverage. Hall has served as a mentor to the staff of La Comunidad, a Spanish-language newspaper in Madison, and has taught numerous courses at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism & Mass Communication. He serves on the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council Board of Directors, Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism Board of Directors, and Indiana University Media School’s Journalism Alumni Board, of which he is president. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University and, in 2016, received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the IU Media School. He also serves as a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News membership task force to create and uphold high industry standards.
