With WisconsinEye offline, lawmakers propose state-run public affairs network

After months of warning that they might shut down without financial help, Wisconsin Eye is now shut down.

The independent nonprofit service was established in 2007 as a state-level version of C-SPAN, providing live and archived access to state government.

As of Monday, visitors get just one screen when they log on to WisEye.org. It reads “Wiseye.org is off the air.”

Shifting funding models over time

WisEye has had a variety of funding models since it started in 2007 with private philanthropy.

It was buoyed in the pandemic by federal relief money. In 2021, it started a paid subscription model where live coverage was free, but archived access required a $10 monthly fee.

In the last two state budgets, lawmakers decided to fund the service that provides direct access to them. But they did so with a big caveat — come up with $10 million first, then we’ll match it with a lump sum. And in doing so, lawmakers required that WisconsinEye drop any subscription fees.

Jon Henkes is President and CEO of Wisconsin Eye. He tells Civic Media’s Pat Kreitlow that they’re in a fundraising environment that has fundamentally changed since the pandemic.

“There’s an intense pressure and competition for charitable dollars,” said Henkes, also pointing to pressures caused by economic uncertainty and record-breaking political fundraising.

“Oftentimes WisconsinEye put in that same bucket,” he said. “But we do not advocate for candidates or causes or campaigns. We’re that neutral ground.”

Over the last 18 months, Henkes said WisconsinEye made 52 funding requests to individuals, businesses, and foundations, seeking a total of $9.2 million.

“And all of them have been declined,” said Henkes. “So you have to take a step back and say, well, this funding model is no longer sustainable. What do we need to do to keep this network alive moving forward?”

Lawmakers propose state-run replacement

The shutdown has prompted Democratic state Sen. Mark Spreitzer (D-Beloit) and state Rep. Brienne Brown (D-Whitewater) to circulate a bill that would create a state-run replacement.

Under the bill, the Office of the Public Affairs Network would be run by the government itself — through the Department of Administration.

“WisconsinEye has been a private entity that was privately funded up until now. And only in the last couple of years have there been discussions of public funding,” Sen. Spreitzer told Civic Media in an interview on Wednesday. 

“It looks like we are going to be in a position of needing public taxpayer funding for the long term. And if that’s the case, then we should consider whether it should just be a public entity that is accountable to elected officials and run for the public benefit.”

Under the bill, the state would spend $2 million a year on continuous coverage of legislative floor sessions, executive branch proceedings, Supreme Court hearings, and press conferences.

Spreitzer said the figure shouldn’t be compared directly to the $10 million matching requirement lawmakers imposed on WisconsinEye in the last budget.

“The $10 million that was previously talked about was one time money to establish an endowment,” he said. “And so this bill is really proposing a different funding model that just acknowledges that matching funds endowment efforts did not work out.”

Capitol hearings continue without livestreams

Lawmakers are continuing to meet at the state Capitol this week, but without WisconsinEye, much of that work is no longer being streamed.

Since Monday, they have heard testimony on bills to label lab-grown meat, ban counterfeit airbags, create a task force on missing and murdered African American women and girls, raise the legal age for nicotine sales, expand child-care funding in Indian Country, and repeal Gov. Tony Evers’ per-pupil funding increase.

Spreitzer said the goal is to take up funding the service in January. But for the bill to advance, Republicans would need to sign on. Spreitzer said as of Wednesday, no Republicans have signed on, but there could be interest. 

Henkes also said this issue is bipartisan.

“Hats off goes to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos,” said Henkes. “He has been an advocate and supporter of WisconsinEye long as he’s been in the Speaker’s office. There’s also been conversations with Democratic leadership, and I believe that there is support all the way around.”

WisconsinEye employees would get competitive hiring 

Spreitzer’s bill would establish seven positions plus a Director to run the network for the state, with competitive hiring for former employees of WisEye. 

Also under the bill, the Department of Administration would be required to attempt obtaining WisconsinEye’s digital archives. 

According to Spreitzer, under WisEye’s contract, if the nonprofit dissolved, it would have to turn over its 30,000 hours of archives to the Wisconsin Historical Society for preservation.

According to Henkes, any long-term fix will take time. In the meantime, the service has received more than $50,000 in small-dollar donations since announcing the shutdown.

For Spreitzer, too, keeping transparency is paramount.  

“It’s just critical that we do something to protect public access to state government,” he said. “Otherwise, every other priority that we are working on will not be done in the light of day.”