WNA Member Content | Wisconsin Newspaper Association

Your Right to Know: Lawmakers seek to keep their misconduct secret

Jul. 29, 2021

Last month, a judge ruled that the state Legislature violated the open records law when it withheld records regarding the sexual harassment of a female staffer. However, an order to release the unredacted records has been put on hold as the governmental body appeals the decision — despite the fact that the former legislator who the allegations were lodged against says, if it were up to him, they would have been released long ago.

Amid fiscal challenges at UW-Milwaukee, bright spots and possible policy responses

Jul. 28, 2021

In a state where most higher education institutions are struggling to address financial and enrollment challenges, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee faces some of the greatest difficulties of all.

polco, coronavirus, voter registration, presidential debates, covid-19

New poll question aims to gauge readers’ concern about delta variant

Jul. 28, 2021

A new poll question about readers' level of concern regarding the delta variant is available to be used by WNA members. We are asking the question in light of a surge in new COVID-19 cases fueled by the variant that prompted new CDC mask-wearing guidance.

Poll questions are available through a WNA partnership with Polco aimed at helping newspapers better engage readers and access enhanced data and insights. WNA members who have signed up for an account with Polco can access their local version of the new question, as well as local poll results, on their dashboards. Those who have not signed up can do so here.

prisons, kevin car, department of corrections

How the pandemic could permanently change jails and prisons

Jul. 28, 2021

A similar story played out in jails and prisons across Wisconsin and the country, triggering experiments in public health and criminal justice. The pandemic’s arrival brought new urgency to an overcrowding problem.

Marquette Law School poll considers changes for 2022 election cycle

Jul. 26, 2021

Marquette University Law School pollster Charles Franklin has a challenge as Wisconsin prepares for another election cycle. While the failures of 2016 forced the polling industry to make changes to better account for voters who turned out for Donald Trump, those tweaks still didn’t catch the surge in turnout among Trump supporters in 2020, leading to another round of questions about why polling failed once again to accurately gauge the electorate.

Franklin says he's looking into making additional tweaks to the Marquette University Law School poll’s methodology. The first MU Law School Poll of Wisconsin voters in 2021 will be released Aug. 11.

Results available for poll on Wisconsin state cheese

Jul. 22, 2021

Polco users and readers visiting WNA member websites from July 7 to 20 were asked whether colby should be named the official state cheese of Wisconsin. Out of 485 respondents, 43% said they believed it should, while 38% said there should be no official state cheese in Wisconsin.

Poll questions are available through a WNA partnership with Polco aimed at helping newspapers better engage readers and access enhanced data and insights.

Wisconsin legislative races already taking shape for 2022

Jul. 21, 2021

Democratic lawmakers in Wisconsin who narrowly won their seats are gearing up for 2022 campaigns as they face Republican opposition and the uncertainties of redistricting.

labor shortage, republic chophouse, patrick neph

Businesses hard-pressed for workers as COVID-19 pandemic worsens labor shortage

Jul. 21, 2021

Across Wisconsin, employers say finding workers is their number one headache. The struggle existed before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the problem has intensified as the U.S. economy roars back to life.

Degree of difficulty: Challenges for UW-Milwaukee in a turbulent time

Jul. 21, 2021

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee lags in key revenues compared to peer urban research universities, as a decade of enrollment decline has exacerbated the effects of an eight-year tuition freeze and state funding that has not kept pace with inflation.

Recalling ‘analog summer’ memories from years gone by

Jul. 20, 2021

The idea behind analog summer is we’re turning back the clock to simpler times — when our lives were not dominated as much by digital devices but by human interaction and natural experiences that don’t come from liquid-crystal displays.