February 23, 2016

Contact: Mark Pitsch, (608) 252-6145; Bill Lueders, (608) 669-4712

Open Government Advocates to Take Show on the Road

Advocates of open government in Wisconsin are planning a three-day, eight-city informational tour to highlight the importance of the state’s open records law, in the wake of unprecedented attacks from state lawmakers and others.

“An open society depends on open government. Wisconsin residents understand that,” says Mark Pitsch, president of the Madison chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and an assistant city editor at the Wisconsin State Journal. “Last summer’s attempt to gut the records law is just one of several recent examples of official disregard for the public’s right to know. It’s time for education and vigilance.”

The “Open Government Traveling Show” will take place from Tuesday, March 15, through Thursday, March 17, as part of national Sunshine Week, the annual “celebration of access to public information.”

The events—free and open to the public—are aimed at helping Wisconsin residents understand the open records law and how to use it. Each 90-minute presentation will feature a tutorial on the records law and examples of its use by journalists and advocates.

Participants will include representatives of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, the Madison chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, the Center for Media and Democracy, the MacIver Institute for Public Policy and Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

The tour is also supported by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism. Each stop has its own local sponsor.

The traveling show will take place in the following locations:

La Crosse: March 15, 2 p.m. La Crosse Public Library. Local sponsor: La Crosse Tribune.

Eau Claire: March 15, 7 p.m. Centennial Hall, Room 1614, UW-Eau Claire. Local sponsor: Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, UW-Eau Claire chapter, Society of Professional Journalists

Wausau: March 16, 10 a.m. Marathon County Public Library. Local sponsor: Wausau Daily Herald-USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Green Bay: March 16, 2 p.m. Green Bay Public Library. Local Sponsor: Green Bay Press-Gazette-USA TODAY NETWORK-WISCONSIN

Appleton: March 16, 7:30 p.m. Appleton Public Library. Local sponsor: Appleton Post-Crescent-USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Sheboygan: March 17, 10 a.m. Sheboygan Public Library. Local sponsor: Sheboygan Press-USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Waukesha: March 17, 2 p.m, Waukesha Public Library. Local sponsor: Schott, Bublitz and Engel S.C.

Janesville: March 17, 7 p.m. Blackhawk Technical College. Local sponsor: Janesville Gazette

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The American wheat beer will debut March 16 at a celebration of Sunshine Week, the annual event honoring open government and the First Amendment. The celebration takes place from 6-9 p.m. at Next Door, 2439 Atwood Ave., Madison.

Sunshine Wheat features brewers malt, flaked wheat and crystal wheat from Wisconsin-based Briess Malt and Ingredients Company and Brewer’s Gold hops from Gorst Valley Hops of Mazomanie. It will feature an exotic dry hop. Sunshine Wheat will hold 4.8 percent alcohol-by-volume, 22 IBUs and a 5.6 SRM.

The Wisconsin Newspaper Association is the lead sponsor of the SPJ Madison-Next Door Brewing event. Other sponsors include WKOW, Wisconsin State Journal, With Gusto, Isthmus, and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism.

SPJ Madison, Next Door Brewing collaborate on American wheat beer to honor the First Amendment, open government and Wisconsin journalism

MADISON – The Madison chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and Next Door Brewing invite journalists and advocates of open government to celebrate Sunshine Week with the tapping of Sunshine Wheat, an American wheat beer featuring local hops and malts, on Monday, March 16.

The celebration takes place from 6-9 p.m. at Next Door Brewing, 2439 Atwood Avenue, Madison. The first 50 attendees will receive a souvenir beer glass thanks to the generous lead sponsorship of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. WKOW-TV, the Wisconsin State Journal, Schott, Bublitz and Engel, and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism are supporting sponsors. Two tickets to upcoming Isthmus events – Isthmus Food Cart Fest, Paddle & Portage, Beer & Cheese Fest — will be awarded in a drawing, courtesy of Isthmus. With Gusto is making a poster for the event, prints of which will be available for $15 each.

Next Door head brewer Bryan Kreiter will speak about creating the beer and his use of local ingredients at 7 p.m. He will be followed with remarks by WNA executive director Beth Bennett about Sunshine Week.

Invited special guests include Wisconsin food and beer writers Chris “Beer Baron” Drosner, Robin Shepard, Laurel White, Linda Falkenstein, Barry Adams, Kathy Flanigan and George Zens.

March 16 is the 264^th anniversary of the birth of James Madison, father of the First Amendment and the man for whom the City of Madison is named. Sunshine Week, a national event in support of open government, runs March 15-21.

The event is free, and all area journalists are welcome to attend. There will be a cash bar; appetizers will be provided. RSVPs are appreciated to [email protected].

Based in Indianapolis, SPJ is a national membership organization that promotes high professional and ethical standards among journalists, First Amendment principles and the belief that a free and vigorous press is vital in a representative democracy. The Madison professional chapter was formed around 1990. Membership costs $75 annually, and it is open to journalists who spend at least half of their professional life writing or editing work for publication.

Contact: Mark Pitsch, [email protected]; 608-252-6145

By Mark Pitsch

As part of national Sunshine Week, March 16-22, members of the Madison student and professional chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists fanned out across the capital city, handing out fortune cookies.

We dropped a handful in the offices of the elected officials, from Madison School Board to Gov. Scott Walker, as well as some unelected boards like the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents.

Each cookie contained a wise and honorable message: “You will be open and transparent when conducting public business.” “You will uphold the letter and the spirit of the Wisconsin open records and open meetings laws.” “A year of good fortune showers those who revere open government.”

The fortune cookies and their messages serve as a reminder to those elected or appointed to do the public’s business that they work for you — the voting and taxpaying public. Here are some examples from over the past year that illustrate why these Sunshine Week reminders, no matter how gimmicky, are needed:

• We now know how brazenly Walker’s Milwaukee County executive office was in seeking to hide its business from the public, to the point of setting up a secret email system. Investigators suspect, and common sense suggests, Walker knew about the secret system, and the overt commingling of his public and campaign staffs. No one begrudges politicians from considering political calculations when making decisions, but we expect them to stay on the right side of the law.
• Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Wauwatosa, and Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen have argued Vukmir and all lawmakers are exempt from the records law for their entire terms in office — an unprecedented legal position that would let lawmakers ignore the law.
  

  Sen. Jon Erpenbach opens his Sunshine Week fortune in his office on March 19, 2014.

  Meanwhile, Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, is fighting a legal battle to shield the names of constituents who contact him — an approach adopted by some of his legislative colleagues but rejected by other elected officials, includingWalker.

• In the waning days of the legislative session, lawmakers are considering a bill to eliminate numerous records from the state online court database. This website simply includes information that is already public record in courthouses across the state; putting it online and making it available to the public only makes sense.
• State lawmakers snuck numerous last-minute measures into the 2013-15 state budget, including ones to create a bail bonds system and expel an investigative journalism center from UW-Madison. Credit Walker for vetoing them.
• The same budget writers used obscure language to direct funding to a politically connected sportsmen’s group that had publicly obscured its tax status and whose leader had run afoul of hunting law. Literally, this was the gang that couldn’t shoot straight.
• Twice, UW officials pushed language seeking to create blanket exemptions for university research. You’d think after one embarrassing beat down they would have learned their lesson. Both measures were stopped in their tracks.
• The university and the UW System also failed to adhere to legal guidance from the Attorney General’s office to reveal the names of five finalists for their top jobs in a timely manner. The System did not release the names of all finalists until after it had chosen a president.
• Finally, municipalities across the state are shielding information on traffic tickets out of fear that they will be sued, under a highly questionable interpretation of a federal court ruling. Curiously, no other state is taking this approach.

Let’s hope the people who received our fortune cookies take them not only to stomach but also to heart.

Your Right to Know is a monthly column distributed by the Freedom of Information Council, a nonprofit group dedicated to open government. Council member Mark Pitsch is an assistant city editor at the Wisconsin State Journal and president of the Madison chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

SPJ cited the Wisconsin Legislature for hastily passing a collective bargaining law in contravention of the state’s Open Meeting Law and then successfully urging the Supreme Court to uphold the action.  The Legislature also limited public scrutiny of redistricting maps, SPJ said.

The announcement today comes during Sunshine Week, the celebration of open government and freedom of information. In Madison, the SPJ professional chapter has declared March 16 “Thank a Journalist Day.”

For more information on the Black Hole awards, go here.

Madison, the fourth U.S. president, correctly recognized the importance of a free press to a vibrant democracy. To celebrate his birthday, the Madison pro chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists is declaring March 16 “Thank a Journalist Day.” We urge Madison-area residents to thank the journalists they know for doing the important work of providing information to the public.

SPJ will say its own thank you to local journalists by dropping off “I’m a Journalist” buttons to area newsrooms this week and by hosting a gathering at Tipsy Cow, 102 King St., Madison, on Thursday, March 15, at 7 pm. All journalists are welcome, and buttons will be available.

“It’s been a remarkable year in journalism in Madison and in Wisconsin. The Society of Professional Journalists believes it is proper to thank and recognize the work of journalists who are a vital component of our democracy,” said SPJ President Mark Pitsch.

Thank a Journalist Day comes during Sunshine Week, the annual celebration of open government and freedom of information, which coincides with the anniversary of Madison’s birth.

SPJ is also promoting the work of journalists through the use of the Twitter hashtag #thankajournalist all week.

Pitsch and other officers of the Madison pro chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists will be available during Sunshine Week for interviews. Other SPJ officers are Joe Radske, vice president, 274-1234, Rebecca Wasieleski, secretary-treasurer, 920-568-8321, Gordon Govier, past president, 443-3688, Terry Shelton, past president, 338-5091.