News & Announcements

Wisconsin Humanities’ Beyond the Headlines program will host a free, virtual workshop next month aimed at providing attendees with ideas and resources for telling stories about water justice issues related to climate change. 

The Wisconsin Newspaper Association is a partner of the Beyond the Headlines program, which works to bring Wisconsinites together for discussions that explore journalism’s crucial role in enabling productive citizen engagement in American democracy.

New federal charges say a group of three journalists played a major role in derailing a murder-for-hire plot in Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

The journalists, who have not been publicly identified, discovered the plot while working on a story about a murder-for-hire website on the dark web. The discovery led to the recent arrest of a 37-year-old woman who is accused of paying the website administrator to kill a man. She faces up to 10 years in federal prison. 

Five entries have been selected as finalists for the 2021 Anthony Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics, UW-Madison’s Center for Journalism Ethics announced Monday.

The winner will be announced at a later date. The Center typically announces its winner in March ahead of a May ceremony in New York, but amid the pandemic, it has not specified plans for 2021.

Newspaper professionals from 13 states participated in this week’s Tri-State Newspaper Convention, presented by the Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin newspaper associations.

More than 500 registered for the two-day, virtual event that included more than 20 sessions on subjects from “Publishing Through a Pandemic” to “Covering Misinformation and Disinformation” and “Reporting on Race.” Attendees also interacted with peers and sponsors during roundtables and idea exchanges.

The Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council is now accepting nominations for its annual Openness in Government Awards, or Opees. Awards are given in six categories.

Nominations are due Friday, Feb. 5, and can be sent to blueders@gmail.com. Winners will be selected by a Council committee, as in past years, and will be announced just prior to national Sunshine Week, March 14-20.