Website providing public with videos of state government functions comes to end for now
Wisconsin Eye halted its coverage after failing to raise sufficient funds to meet a matching requirement for the release of $10 million in state funds. WisconsinEye leadership has been in discussions with lawmakers about a potential solution
WisconsinEye has gone dark.
Since its inception in 2007, Wisconsin Eye has been streaming committee hearings, floor sessions, Wisconsin Supreme Court oral arguments, interviews, and other political events around the state. It all came to an end in December when it failed to secure state funding.
“The Capitol is dark,” lamented Representative Lee Snodgrass (D-Appleton). “You, as the people of Wisconsin, deserve to know what is going on in our committees and our floor sessions, how we’re voting, and what we’re saying. All of that is incredibly important. Transparency is the cornerstone of democracy.”
Wisconsin Eye halted its coverage after failing to raise sufficient funds to meet a matching requirement for the release of $10 million in state funds. WisconsinEye leadership has been in discussions with lawmakers about a potential solution, including releasing a portion of the $10 million that is intended to build an endowment.
A gofundme account has been established to raise $250,000 to cover first-quarter operation costs but it came up well short of what was needed.
Speaker Robin Vos said a plan to revive WisEye is underway. Meanwhile, the Republican majority decided to enforce a decades-old rule banning any video, audio, or photos – including those by legislators – except for credentialed media.
A spokesman for Speaker Robin Vos told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that they are “simply reaffirming the long-established rules of the Assembly.” They will still allow credentialed media to attend and record meetings, and the legislature continues to maintain records of votes and written testimony.
“The people of Wisconsin expect and deserve their state government to be as accessible and transparent as possible,” Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein told Dan Schafer of The Recombobulation Area website. “At the moment, it is not. We should change this rule, which is two decades old, to reflect modern and current circumstances. I am hopeful we can work with our Republican colleagues to find a way to make that change as quickly as possible.”
Representative Lee Snodgrass (D-Appleton) said Democrats are working on solutions because the public's ability to understand what legislators say and do is vital to good governance. So far, no bill has been introduced.
“But perhaps what it comes down to most is accountability,” Shaeffer said. “Republican legislators clearly don’t want to be held accountable for what they say in committee hearings.”
Website providing public with videos of state government functions comes to end for now © 2026 by Carol Lenz is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
