The Wisconsin legislature thinks that the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism should not be associated with the University of Wisconsin.

The Center and its director, Andy Hall, are friends and collaborators with PublicSource. Hall works with the university’s journalism students and a small staff to do reporting that’s much needed in the state. Their stories, many about the political goings on in the state capital, are carried by other media outlets.

We wonder who in the legislature Wisconsin Watch, the center’s website, offended? Hall said he doesn’t know. But one legislator made the comparison that a state university wouldn’t offer office space to Fox News. Well, no, Fox News is a for-profit company. Wisconsin Watch is a public service website that is supported almost entirely by foundations and individual donations.

This is the world that more than 80 investigative websites throughout the country, like PublicSource, inhabit. We’re sending our support to Hall and his staff. We know they’ll keep up their terrific work no matter what the legislature decides.

See the NiemanLab story on the Wisconsin Center here.

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