Thomas Jefferson famously said, “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”
It is no secret that more than 200 years later, journalism and democracy are both in trouble. Since 2008, U.S. newsroom employment nationwide has plummeted by more than 50%. At least 77 newspapers in Wisconsin have closed their doors in the past 15 years.
And what happens when newspapers die? Researchers have actually measured the impact on democracy.
There’s less voting.
Fewer candidates run for office.
Voters don’t know who’s running for Congress — or what they stand for.
There’s more wasteful government spending and corruption.
There’s more pollution.
And political polarization increases.
At the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, we take the challenge to use journalism to bolster democracy seriously. Through our news arm Wisconsin Watch, we provide in-depth, fact-checked stories that help residents and officials make the best decisions on how to solve pressing problems facing Wisconsin and beyond.
Just in 2021, Wisconsin Watch tackled issues including the state’s highest-in-the-nation incarceration rate for Black residents: a shocking 1 out of every 36 Black adults in Wisconsin is behind bars.
We examined how nearly 200 police officers were fired or forced out in Wisconsin — then hired by other departments in the state.
We showed how Wisconsin health officials still don’t test the water at homes of lead-poisoned children — even when those homes are served by dangerous lead pipes.
Wisconsin Watch, in partnership with the Center for Public Integrity and Madison365, revealed that school officials in Wisconsin call police on their students at twice the national average. For Native American students, the rate was the highest in the nation.
We revealed a controversial sentencing practice by an Outagamie County judge that prolonged defendants’ involvement in the criminal justice system for months — even years — after their sentences should have ended.
Wisconsin Watch illustrated how residents living near one of the state’s most polluted waterways were not informed about the dangerous “forever chemicals” flowing past their backyards.
We explored how misinformation was leading many health care workers in assisted living and nursing homes to refuse to protect themselves and the vulnerable people they care for by getting vaccinated.
And we showed how programs like the Ho-Chunk Nation’s Child Trust Fund Program would go a long way toward closing the massive wealth gap between white residents and people of color in Wisconsin. After our story was published, lawmakers introduced a bill to enact a baby-bond style program for the state of Wisconsin.
This type of in-depth journalism that strengthens democracy takes a lot of time and money. It is only possible because of the financial support of people like you.
Donate now and your donation will be doubled. Generous members of our Leadership Circle and Watchdog Club are pledging $40,000 to encourage you to match this amount by Dec. 31. Every dollar is matched and monthly donations are matched at their annual amounts.
Please make a gift today and have it matched!
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