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Wisconsin Watch investigative reporter Phoebe Petrovic has been selected to join the ProPublica Local Reporting Network.
ProPublica launched the Local Reporting Network at the beginning of 2018 to boost investigative journalism in local newsrooms. It has since partnered with more than 70 news organizations to create high-impact investigative journalism.
Wisconsin Watch is the first Wisconsin-based news outlet to join the ProPublica Local Reporting Network.
“Phoebe’s fearlessness, work ethic, deep research skills and ability to cultivate trust among sources has made her a standout investigative reporter in Wisconsin, so it’s no surprise ProPublica has recognized her talent and potential,” Wisconsin Watch statehouse bureau chief Matthew DeFour said. “We are excited to partner with ProPublica to ensure local and statewide accountability journalism remains vibrant.”
Petrovic joined Wisconsin Watch in 2019 as a Report for America corps member, during which she reported, produced and hosted “Open and Shut,” a podcast series co-published with Wisconsin Public Radio examining the power of prosecutors. For her work she was named a finalist for the Livingston Award and won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award.
Since then, Petrovic’s award-winning investigations have exposed a legally questionable sentencing scheme and sexual harassment cover-ups at the Sheboygan Police Department.
She has traced highly funded disinformation, documented the harms of laws targeting people who are pregnant or LGBTQ+ and spotlighted discriminatory education policies in Wisconsin’s private school choice program.
Before coming to Wisconsin Watch, Petrovic worked at Wisconsin Public Radio, Reveal, NPR’s Here & Now and ideastream, and her work has aired nationally on NPR’s flagship news magazines.
Petrovic has served as the disinformation reporter for Wisconsin Watch since June in collaboration with a UW-Madison disinformation research project. That project will continue as Wisconsin Watch continues its Fact Brief project and disinformation reporting ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Petrovic will begin her new two-year position on Jan. 2. She plans to cover extremism and continue her work scrutinizing public and private school discrimination.
Wisconsin Watch is an independent, nonpartisan and nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that focuses on government accountability and quality of life issues important to the people of Wisconsin. Our multimedia journalism digs into undercovered issues, documents broken and failing systems, puts findings into regional and national context, and explores potential solutions.
Wisconsin Watch also trains current and future investigative journalists through workshops, internships and fellowships, mentoring, and collaborations with journalism classes and news organizations. And we share information about journalistic practices, ethics and impact with the public. Our guiding values are to protect those in vulnerable situations, expose wrongdoing and explore solutions.
The nonprofit Wisconsin Watch (www.WisconsinWatch.org) collaborates with WPR, PBS Wisconsin, other news media and the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication. All works created, published, posted or disseminated by Wisconsin Watch do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of UW-Madison or any of its affiliates.
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