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Outlet profile

Wisconsin Watch

U.S. center-left

Owned byIndependent nonprofit 501(c)(3); no private owner. Legal entity is Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (WCIJ Inc.), governed by a nonprofit board. Founded by journalists Andy Hall and Dee Hall.
FundingFoundation grants and individual donations. Major funders have included the Joyce Foundation, Knight Foundation, Open Society Foundations (George Soros-linked), Emerson Collective, Greater Milwaukee Foundation, and the American Journalism Project. No advertising or paywall revenue; all funders are publicly disclosed on its website.
On the administrationbroadly critical

Background

Wisconsin Watch was founded in January 2009 in Madison by journalists Andy Hall and Dee Hall as the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (WCIJ). It launched with one full-time staffer, early partnerships with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin Public Radio, and Wisconsin Public Television, and an initial grant of $100,000 from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation. The organization grew steadily through foundation grants and became a founding member of the Institute for Nonprofit News, a network of nonprofit journalism organizations. It operates as a 501(c)(3) charity and publicly discloses all funders; notable backers have included the Soros-affiliated Open Society Foundations, the Joyce Foundation, and the Knight Foundation — predominantly left-of-center philanthropies. In May 2023, the outlet formally dropped the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism name in public branding, becoming known exclusively as Wisconsin Watch. In 2024, it merged with the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service — a community news outlet focused on Milwaukee's communities of color — with support from the American Journalism Project, significantly expanding its geographic reach. Andy Pennington joined as chief executive officer in March 2026. Media bias trackers rate it left-center to lean-left, citing story selection that emphasizes government accountability, social equity, and environmental issues. Its journalists have operated under a union contract. Coverage of the Trump administration's second term has been predominantly critical, documenting harm to Wisconsin workers, farmers, Medicaid recipients, and SNAP beneficiaries from federal policy changes.

Sources

  1. What is Wisconsin Watch? — Wisconsin Watch
  2. Wisconsin Watch funding — Wisconsin Watch
  3. Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism — Wikipedia
  4. We will now only be known as Wisconsin Watch. Here's why. — Wisconsin Watch
  5. Wisconsin Watch and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service — American Journalism Project
  6. Wisconsin Watch — Bias and Credibility — Media Bias/Fact Check
  7. Wisconsin Watch Media Bias — AllSides
  8. Wisconsin Watch (WCIJI Inc.) — InfluenceWatch
  9. Wisconsin still losing out from not expanding Medicaid — Wisconsin Watch
  10. Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism — Nieman Journalism Lab

Profile compiled 2026-08-12; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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