COVID-19

Many issues remain to be resolved on how the loan forgiveness phase of the Paycheck Protection Program is supposed to work.

This week, new guidance has been issued on what happens if an employer tries to return a laid-off or furloughed employee to his or her old job and the employee decides not to come back. The Small Business Administration and Treasury Department warn that a good faith effort to bring the employee back must be documented.

Five Wisconsin newsrooms have been selected to receive nearly $340,000 in grants from the Facebook Journalism Project as part of the COVID-19 Local News Relief Fund Grant Program, Facebook announced Thursday.

They were The Cap Times, Madison365, Wausau Pilot & Review, Wisconsin Watch and Volume One. Three of the five media outlets — Madison365, Wausau Pilot & Review and Wisconsin Watch — also received $5,000 grants from FJP in early April.

News Media Alliance, with the backing of hundreds of members of Congress, is pushing for a federal advertising campaign to help support local newspapers and broadcasters.

The WNA is encouraging newspapers to consider soliciting public service advertising from local government in order to support public service journalism during this challenging and unpredictable time.