Monthly Archives: March 2020

The following is from our partners at Wisconsin Watch:

As the COVID-19 pandemic pushes newsrooms to their limits in delivering life-and-death information, Wisconsin Watch wants to remind you that we are here to help. 

Collaboration is baked into our nonprofit model, and sharing resources now seems more important than ever. In that spirit, we are launching our first “office hours” on Wednesday, April 1 at 10 a.m. Central time.

Join Wisconsin Watch Managing Editor Dee J. Hall and Investigations Editor Jim Malewitz as we preview upcoming stories, answer your questions and welcome any story tips and suggestions for how we can better serve you. 

Mark your calendar: We will hold these sessions — for media partners only — the first Wednesday of every month to keep you informed about our work. 

To join, contact Associate Director Lauren Fuhrmann

As you may already know, you are always welcome to republish/broadcast/localize all of our reporting. Just follow the guidelines for approved media partners. A collection of our coronavirus coverage appears here.

If you are not already on our distribution list, you can request access through this form.

And, we are offering a new service to help you keep your audiences informed. You are welcome to publish our COVID-19 Update. It is a statewide roundup, generally published on weekdays, of top news and information about Wisconsin’s response to the coronavirus. If you want to receive these updates in your email inbox, click here. 

We welcome your suggestions for making these updates as useful as possible for you and your audiences.

Lastly, if you would like to share your reporting and photography — for publication and distribution to other statewide media — during this crisis, or discuss other ideas, email Coburn Dukehart, digital and multimedia director, at cdukehart@wisconsinwatch.org. 

We are all in this together.

Andy Hall
Executive Director

A tweet from a Madison TV station news director was cited in an article about how newsrooms are adapting to working remotely through the COVID-19 pandemic.

A tweet from WKOW-TV News Director Ed Reams shows a screenshot from the newsroom’s daily editorial meeting, which is now held via video chat. The tweet was embedded in this article on Advancing the Story.

The article goes on to describe how stations are operating under the pandemic and how they’re reaching out to their audiences to generate stories.

Poynter is offering journalists free, real-time chat with its experts to help with crisis coverage.

You can sign up for 30 minute Zoom sessions.

Learn more here.

The onset of the COVID-19 crisis means journalists should be on the lookout for issues related to public access to government meetings and documents.

Columbia Journalism Review wrote this week about examples of how the crisis has made it more difficult for journalists to do their jobs.

If you run into any issues and need help, don’t forget about the WBA Legal Hotline.

RTDNA is out with more advice for journalists working under the pressure of the COVID-19 crisis, this time publishing an article from Katalina Deaven of the Center for Media Engagement.

The article titled Trust and engagement tips for coronavirus coverage includes  an appeal for transparency.

It’s a quick read that will give you important insights to consider while you cover COVID-19.

COVID-19 is making it necessary to conduct more interviews remotely.

If you’re new to remote interviews, RTDNA is providing an article with 15 tips to help you.

The tips include ideas for replacing visuals in your TV stories.

WISN 12 and Marquette University Law School have canceled plans for two televised political debates between candidates in the April election because of rapidly changing developments in the COVID-19 situation. The debates for Milwaukee Mayor and Wisconsin Supreme Court have been cancelled out of an abundance of caution for the safety and health of the candidates, their staffs, and all of those involved in the production.

“After careful and thoughtful discussion over the past few days, we have decided our best path forward is to cancel our upcoming debates,” said Jan Wade, president and general manager of WISN 12. “It is unfortunate, but in light of the Covid-19 pandemic it just does not seem appropriate at this time when health and lives are at stake,” Wade said. 

“We agree with the decision to cancel the debates associated with the mayoral and supreme court elections,” said Joseph D. Kearney, dean of Marquette University Law School. “Our overriding interest is the health, safety, and welfare of all involved. We look forward to future partnerships with WISN 12.”

The Milwaukee Mayoral debate between incumbent Mayor Tom Barrett and state Senator Lena Taylor was originally scheduled for March 31. And The debate for Wisconsin Supreme Court between incumbent Justice Dan Kelly and Judge Jill Karofsky had been slated for April 3. These debates will no longer occur.

Many journalists are working from home starting this week and it naturally has an affect on how newsrooms operate.

Digiday published this article about the new normal facing media workers.

Many newsrooms have made working from home mandatory to protect their workers from COVID-19.

Stay safe.

COVID-19 is a source of stress for everyone, but journalists are feeling their own anxieties from covering the spread of this virus. 

Poynter has compiled a list of nine things journalists can to to cope with the stress. Read about that here.

Take time to take care of yourselves so your important work can carry through to the end of the crisis. Thank you for everything you do.

Poynter is offering a daily newsletter to help journalists covering COVID-19.

Sign up here.

Stay safe. Stay healthy.