The Need for Stronger Local News in Wisconsin

I’m the Wisconsin civic media campaign manager at Free Press Action and the newest member of our team. As a Milwaukee native and proud Wisconsinite, I’m happy to dedicate my time to advocating for and serving my community.

Prior to joining Free Press Action, I served as the Wisconsin state director at RISE, where I mobilized and educated young voters across the state. In my role at Free Press Action, I’m connecting with journalists, advocates and community leaders across the state to build power for local news and information that serves our communities.

The need for trustworthy information during disasters

Since July, Wisconsin has dealt with quite a few emergencies with wide-reaching consequences. The flooding impacted thousands of residents across Milwaukee and surrounding areas, wildfires have devastated our air quality for weeks and underground electrical fires have caused manholes to explode in Madison, forcing local businesses to close. Wisconsinites have been thrust into situations where they need to find information quickly to respond to these crises, access resources and stay safe.

When disasters like these occur, it’s crucial that people have access to trustworthy local news and information — it’s essential for our well-being. I didn’t even receive an emergency weather alert about the floods until early in the morning on Aug. 10, nearly 10 hours after the downpours started.

We need to know how to prepare and stay safe, we need ongoing updates on what’s happening, and we need resources for those in need or in danger. Where to go, what to do, how to stay safe — this information can save lives, and access to it shouldn’t feel like a privilege. Accurate information is a public good and our government should treat it as such.

That’s where our work at Free Press Action comes in. We firmly believe that reliable, trusted local information is needed to support a community’s general health and to enable people to participate fully in our democracy.

As the Wisconsin civic media campaign manager, I work to expand Free Press Action’s organizing, network building and policymaking efforts in Wisconsin and advocate for the news and information people deserve. Over the next few months, I will be on the ground in Wisconsin working with local-news outlets and media platforms, independent journalists, community leaders and lawmakers to ensure we’re working together to support local news and civic media across the state to keep our communities informed and educated.

If you’d like to learn more about our work or team up on our efforts to address the local-news crisis, please take a moment to complete this short survey.

We will share updates about our work as our campaign gets underway, so be on the lookout for what we have going on in Wisconsin this fall!

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