Civic Life
Media
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Over one-third of Wisconsin counties have minimal or no local news coverage, creating dangerous civic information gaps. In fact, Bayfield County (Wisconsin’s northernmost county) today has no local news outlet at all, and 22 other counties have only a single local newspaper or station serving them. This means almost one-third of Wisconsin’s 72 counties are effectively “news deserts” – communities with one or zero local news sources. The lack of local journalism leaves residents without reliable information on local government, schools, and civic affairs. Research shows that in such news deserts, government mismanagement and corruption are more likely to spread, and communities tend to become more politically polarized. In short, the disappearance of local news in many Wisconsin communities has created a void in accountability and informed engagement at the local level.
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With fewer trusted local outlets, residents increasingly rely on partisan national media or social media for news – which often accelerates the spread of misinformation. In places like Douglas County (a Wisconsin news desert), many people turn to Facebook groups or distant TV/radio broadcasts for local information. But these channels can become “unvetted… echo chambers” rather than sources of vetted news. As local reporting wanes, false or misleading content fills the gap: a recent review found that Wisconsin’s most popular talk radio shows (with large audiences and advertising revenue) are led by partisan hosts who aired the most misinformation. In this environment, rumors and extreme narratives travel faster, contributing to rising polarization and confusion. The decline of local news thus directly feeds a misinformation problem – there are fewer independent fact-checkers, and residents are left sorting truth from falsehood on their own.
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The erosion of shared local news sources has weakened public trust in government and civic institutions, especially in rural areas. Studies show Americans across the political spectrum still consider local news highly important for their communities’ well-being. Indeed, many people say they trust their community newspaper more than other media. However, as local newspapers shut down or shrink, that trusted institution disappears. Without a common news source, communities no longer share the same facts: UW–Madison professor Robert Asen warns that people are “not even getting the same information – not even sharing the same basic set of facts” in today’s fragmented media ecosystem. This information fragmentation breeds distrust. When neighbors are each getting radically different news (or rumors) from Facebook, cable talk shows, or partisan sites, it’s harder for them to trust local officials or even each other. The loss of local media has thus frayed the social fabric and civic trust, particularly in rural Wisconsin where residents feel left in an information vacuum.
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Wisconsin is not investing enough in sustaining local journalism or in developing the next generation of journalists. In early 2024, some state lawmakers introduced a Local Journalism support package with three bills aimed at revitalizing Wisconsin’s news ecosystem. This package proposed a Local Journalism Fellowship Program (to provide stipends and scholarships for young reporters working in Wisconsin newsrooms), a Newspaper Subscription Tax Credit (to incentivize residents to subscribe to local newspapers), and a Wisconsin Civic Information Consortium (a state-supported fund to foster innovative local media projects). These measures were designed to bolster struggling news outlets and encourage new journalists. Unfortunately, the package stalled – it did not pass the state Senate and thus never became law. The failure to enact such support means Wisconsin’s local media continue to wither financially, and there is insufficient support for aspiring young journalists. Without public or private investment to fill the gap, newsrooms across the state remain under-resourced, and many areas will continue to lack quality local reporting. This underinvestment in journalism ultimately deprives communities of information and watchdog coverage, weakening the overall civic life of the state.
Other Civic Life Challenges
Political Reform
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Wisconsin’s state legislative maps, drawn in 2011, are widely deemed among the most gerrymandered in the nation. Republicans have consistently held an “impenetrable majority” in the State Assembly – winning at least 60% of Assembly seats even in elections where they earned less than 50% of the statewide vote. Such extreme partisan gerrymandering has “divided our communities, preventing fair representation” and “suppressed competitive elections,” which in turn “skewed policy outcomes” and undermined democratic representation. In short, distorted district lines have skewed policy to favor the map-drawing party and reduced electoral competitiveness across Wisconsin.
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A growing gap exists between Wisconsin legislators’ positions and their constituents’ policy preferences. Polling suggests there is majority support among Wisconsinites for measures like legalizing marijuana, allowing abortion in most cases, accepting federal Medicaid expansion funds, requiring background checks for private gun sales, and even switching to nonpartisan redistricting. Yet many of these widely supported policies have been non-starters in the gerrymandered legislature. For example, issues such as Medicaid expansion and marijuana legalization – backed by a majority of voters – have been repeatedly blocked by an ironclad GOP majority. This disconnect, where lawmakers’ actions diverge from public opinion, feeds frustration and erodes public trust in governance.
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Institutional barriers in Wisconsin’s political system have led to reform stagnation and policy gridlock. Notably, Wisconsin has no provision for citizen-led ballot initiatives or binding referenda, meaning voters cannot directly enact reforms over a recalcitrant legislature. (By contrast, Michigan voters used a 2018 public initiative to establish fairer district maps, something not possible under Wisconsin law.) The gerrymandered legislature itself has little incentive to reform structures that entrench its power – for instance, proposals for independent redistricting or campaign finance changes are routinely ignored. After Democrats won the governorship and other statewide offices in 2018, the Republican-led legislature moved to strip power from those offices and simply ignored the governor’s calls for special sessions on various issues they opposed. These structural and partisan obstacles have prevented responsive reforms, leaving Wisconsin’s government largely stuck in a stalemate on institutional change.
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Without structural reform or external pressure, Wisconsin is likely to experience continued policy paralysis – a prolonged political logjam on major issues. As long as partisan gerrymandering and power-consolidating tactics persist, officials have shown little urgency to address even long-standing problems. Broadly popular policies have remained gridlocked; for instance, despite high public support, Medicaid expansion and cannabis legalization have been “non-starters in a legislature where the GOP majority is ironclad”. Even pressing challenges like climate resilience have seen inaction – Wisconsin’s legislature has stalled on climate change measures despite overwhelming scientific consensus. Observers warn that without changes such as fair maps or other democratic reforms, this pattern of policy stagnation will continue, potentially leaving Wisconsinites grappling with many of the same unresolved issues decades from now (not unlike 30 years ago).