Monthly Archives: March 2020

The Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council released the following statement regarding open meetings at a time when residents are asked to practice social distancing:

The Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council supports the advice issued today by the State Justice Department regarding public meetings in the era of the coronavirus.

The department advises public bodies to continue providing notices of public meetings, while conducting them via conference calls or remote access that the public can join in on. It also says public bodies may need to accommodate people for whom remote access may be difficult or impossible. We think this is a safe and responsible way to proceed.

The Council recognizes the need for changes in how public bodies operate, and it appreciates the efforts being made to continue providing public access even for meetings that the public cannot physically attend. 

We acknowledge the important work being done by those who serve on public bodies across the state, especially during this critical time, and applaud their efforts to operate in as open and transparent a manner as possible. That will serve all of Wisconsin well.

WITI-TV anchor Nicole Koglin is leaving the Milwaukee TV station after more than 15 years.

“While it has been an absolute pleasure, and honor, to wake up Milwaukee for more than 15 years, it’s now time for me to be with my own family when they wake up and begin their day,” Koglin said.

Koglin plans on leaving in July.

Your WBA has gathered a list of resources for broadcasters related to COVID-19 that it will update continuously.

The page includes information about preparing stations and employees, links to resources for newsrooms regarding coverage, links to critical information sources, and the NAB Coronavirus Response Tool Kit.

The COVID-19 Resource page is available here.

Please contact your WBA if there’s anything it can do to help you fulfill your public service mission during this public health crisis.

The COVID-19 story is so huge, it’s hard to know where to focus your newsroom’s efforts in covering it. There is no shortage of story ideas.

The Columbia Journalism Review is outlining the challenges in covering the global crisis in this article.

The article also discusses the challenge of fighting misinformation. 

Fox 6 (WITI-TV) Milwaukee reporter Amanda St. Hilaire is among those being recognized by the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council its annual Openness Awards, or Opees.

St. Hilaire will receive the Media Openness Award (“Mopee”) for her in-depth investigative reports on how state legislators, alone among state and local public officials in Wisconsin, reserve the right to destroy records at will and how the clerks in both houses refuse to release records regarding allegations of misconduct against lawmakers and their staffs. The station, represented by Tom Kamenick, is now suing Gov. Tony Evers for initially refusing to release records without the requester providing limited search terms.

For the rest of the awards, both a former state employee who rebuffed a committee’s efforts to embrace secrecy and an attorney who launched a law firm devoted to transparency are being honored as citizen openness advocates, while the state’s two largest newspapers tied in the category of open records scoop of the year.

Awards are also being given to former state Supreme Court Justice Shirley Abrahamson and to a Lafayette County official who blew the whistle on an ill-advised plan to threaten the news media into compliance with its wishes.

The awards, announced today in advance of national Sunshine Week (sunshineweek.org), March 15-21, recognize outstanding efforts to protect the state’s tradition of open government, and highlight some of the threats to it. This is the 14th consecutive year that Opees have been given.

“This year, more than ever, we are reminded of the importance of fighting for access to public records and meetings,” said Bill Lueders, council president. “The laws remain strong only because of the efforts of people across the state to use and defend them.”

The Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, a nonpartisan group that seeks to promote open government, consists of about two dozen members representing media and other public interests. Sponsoring organizations include the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, Wisconsin Associated Press, and the Madison Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

The winners will be invited to receive their awards at the tenth annual Wisconsin Watchdog Awards Dinner in Madison on Tuesday, April 21, at the Madison Club in, you guessed it, Madison. The event is presented by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council and the Madison Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Awards are being given this year in six categories. The winners are:

Political Openness Award (“Popee”): Shirley Abrahamson

Throughout her 43 years on the state Supreme Court, Abrahamson was a champion of open government. Many of her opinions affirmed the public’s right to know, including the majority opinion in a 2012 case to bar officials from charging requesters for blacking out records and two dissents in the 1990s. Abrahamson opposed the court’s decision to shield some of its business from public view. She even prompted the founding of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council back in 1978. Abrahamason, who retired in July, once joked that Wisconsin might rightfully be known as “the Sunshine State.” It certainly shone brighter because of her.

Citizen Openness Award (“Copee”): Tie: Kevin Wymore and Tom Kamenick.

Wymore, a former state employee, spent years fighting to obtain records from a University of Wisconsin advisory committee charged with distributing millions of dollars to health-related projects. Last year, he won a major victory when a Dane County judge, in a decision that was not appealed, ruled that the committee violated state open records and open meetings laws when it denied his request for information about the grant-awarding process.

Kamenick, meanwhile, left his job with the Wisconsin Institute of Law & Liberty to launch the Wisconsin Transparency Project, the state’s first law firm devoted to open government litigation. He has already filed several lawsuits and helped dozens of people in their pursuit of records and access. “When they don’t follow the law,” he writes, “we’re here for you.” Sadly, it looks as though his business will not want for clients.

Media Openness Award (“Mopee”): Amanda St. Hilaire

This reporter for FOX6 in Milwaukee aired in-depth investigative reports on how state legislators, alone among state and local public officials in Wisconsin, reserve the right to destroy records at will and how the clerks in both houses refuse to release records regarding allegations of misconduct against lawmakers and their staffs. The station, represented by Kamenick, is now suing Gov. Tony Evers for initially refusing to release records without the requester providing limited search terms. Her continuing work in this area deserves recognition.

Open Records Scoop of the Year (“Scoopee”): Tie: Wisconsin State Journal and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

State Journal reporter Kelly Meyerhofer used public records to tell the tale of a UW-Madison researcher whose lab was considered so “toxic” it may have contributed to a grad student’s suicide. Her reports led to student protests, new restrictions on the researcher and a commitment from the university to start tracking complaints of hostile and intimidating faculty behavior.

Also honored are Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters John Diedrich and Kevin Crowe for their exposé of the sometimes deadly practice of ambulance diversion. Using medical records and deep data analysis, the duo identified 21 cases nationwide where people died after their ambulance was diverted to another hospital. There are now efforts to ban the practice, in Wisconsin and across the nation.

Whistleblower of the Year (“Whoopee”): Kriss Marion

When this Lafayette County supervisor saw that local officials had drafted a resolution  threatening to “prosecute” reporters who failed to print verbatim what they were told to print about a water quality report, she sounded an alarm that drew national attention and resulted in the resolution being tabled. It takes guts to stand up to one’s colleagues; Marion rose to the occasion.

No Friend of Openness (“Nopee”): The Wisconsin Legislature

Lawmakers have not for the first time earned recognition in this category for their institutional aversion to transparency. This includes their refusal to even consider state Sen. Chris Larson’s bill to prevent them from selectively deleting their own records, and their misbegotten and ultimately failed effort to shield the names of lottery winners. Special negative menton goes to Chief Clerks Jeff Renk and Patrick Fuller, for withholding investigative records that would give the public information about accusations of wrongdoing.

After nearly eight years at WFRV-TV in Green Bay, sports anchor and reporter Ryan Rodig announced he’s moving on.

Rodig shared the news on Twitter Monday stating this week is his last WFRV. The announcement goes on to say he’s looking forward to spending more time at home with his young family. He said he will remain in Green Bay but did not announce any future plans.

Rodig has been honored by the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association with first place awards for sports reporting and sports video/editing.

The Society of Professional Journalists Madison Pro chapter will host a discussion with open records experts on how to navigate the open records process from who to talk to, what to ask for and what to expect. The event will provide insight into how all people — journalists and community members — can use government records.

Getting straight answers from public officials can be challenging. Government employees aren’t obligated to answer your questions, but Wisconsin open records law and the federal Freedom of Information Act require officials to provide most records any person asks for, from emails to audits to investigation reports and more. 

What: SPJ Madison Right to Know open records panel
When: Tuesday, March 10, 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Where: Central Madison Public Library, 201 W. Mifflin St., Room 302
RSVP on Facebook 

For more information about the event, email board president Shelley K. Mesch at spjmadisononline@gmail.com. 

Special thanks to the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism for assistance in putting together this event.

About the panelists: 

Paul M. Ferguson is an assistant attorney general who leads the Office of Open Government at the Wisconsin Department of Justice. Ferguson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Seton Hall University and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Notre Dame Law School. Ferguson serves as vice-chair of the Wisconsin Public Records Board and as chair of the PRB’s Records Management Committee.

Christa Westerberg is a partner with the Madison law firm Pines Bach LLP. Her practice includes open records and First Amendment work on behalf of individuals, organizations and media. Her work has resulted in numerous published appellate decisions protecting the public’s right to know, including Lueders v. Krug, 2019 WI App 36; Hagen v. Board of Regents, 2018 WI App 43; Juneau County Star-Times v. Juneau County, 2013 WI 4; and State ex rel. Citizens for Open Government v. City of Milton, 2007 WI App 114. Westerberg writes and presents frequently on open government issues and is co-Vice President of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council.

Dee J. Hall, a co-founder of the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, joined the staff as managing editor of Wisconsin Watch in June 2015. She is responsible for daily news operations. She worked at the Wisconsin State Journal for 24 years as an editor and reporter focusing on projects and investigations. During her 35-year journalism career, Hall has won more than three dozen local, state and national awards for her work, including the 2001 State Journal investigation that uncovered a $4 million-a-year secret campaign machine operated by Wisconsin’s top legislative leaders. Hall also is secretary of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council.

Tom Kamenick is the President and Founder of the Wisconsin Transparency Project, a law firm dedicated to strict enforcement of the state’s Open Records and Open Meetings laws. Prior to founding WTP, he was Deputy Counsel and Litigation Manager at the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, a non-profit law firm and think tank dedicated to the rule of law, individual liberty, constitutional government and a robust civil society. Kamenick holds a J.D., magna cum laude, from Marquette Law School and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music Education, high honors, from UW-Milwaukee.

Molly Beck has been covering government at every level for 15 years, currently as a state government reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. During her career, she’s been recognized for her work to keep government business in public view including stories that uncovered the Wisconsin state Legislature’s attempt to keep lawmakers’ records private; a previously undisclosed payout by the Legislature to a woman who accused a state senator of sexual harassment; and a secret school board vote to pay its superintendent to resign. Beck has previously worked for the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison; the State Journal-Register in Springfield, Illinois; and the Owatonna People’s Press in southern Minnesota.

Stacy Engebretson is leaving NBC26 (WGBA-TV) after 20 years at the station.

Engebretson is a two-time Emmy award-winning journalist who most recently anchored NBC 26 Live at 5:00 and previously anchored NBC 26 at 6:00 and 10:00. She also served as NBC 26’s Assistant News Director.

Engebretson previously worked as an anchor/reporter for WAOW-TV in Wausau and KSAX-TV in Alexandria, Minnesota.

“I want to thank you for inviting me into your living room every night over the past two decades, whether it was through your television or for a sit-down interview,” Engebretson said during her last broadcast. “You shared your joy with me, your pain, your victories and frustrations. Thank you for trusting me to tell your stories.”

Engebretson plans to continue working with the many nonprofit organizations she developed relationships with through her NBC26 Cares series.

An evening anchor at a TV station in Lincoln, Nebraska will join the WSAW-TV newsroom in Wausau as news director.

Bridget Fargen spent nine years at 10/11 News in Lincoln and began her career in Rhinelander.

“Bridget’s impact on 10/11’s newscasts goes far beyond her contributions on the anchor desk,” said Mikel Lauber, 10/11 Director of News. “Her professionalism and leadership in our newsroom and her passion for using journalism to improve the communities we serve make a daily impact on 10/11’s coverage. We’re sad to see her leave, but are excited for Bridget and our colleagues at our sister station WSAW.”

“When I arrived in Lincoln in November of 2010, I came here for a job,” Fargen said. “I had no idea how long I’d be here or where life would take me, but this city will always hold a special place in my heart. I got engaged, married, bought a house and we had our first child here. Those are a lot of momentous life events and they’ll forever be connected to this great city. Professionally, I’ve had some incredible opportunities during my time at 10/11, sometimes because I worked my tail off, and other times because people saw things in me that I didn’t see in myself.”

Fargen’s first day at WSAW is March 11.