WisconsinEye, the state’s independent, nonprofit public affairs network, went dark on Dec. 15, 2025, cutting off live coverage of Wisconsin state government and removing its video archives.
For nearly two decades, the network has functioned as Wisconsin’s version of C-SPAN, offering unedited coverage of legislative sessions, committee hearings and other public proceedings. Its sudden shutdown, due to insufficient funding, has made lawmakers, journalists and citizens concerned about losing access to state government proceedings. As leaders and the network search for a solution to bring the network back online permanently, WisconsinEye received $50,000 in stopgap funding, approved by the JCLO, enabling live streams and video archives to go back online in February. But as legislators debate long-term funding solutions, a critical question remains: what happens to public access if the cameras stop rolling permanently?
In the early 2000s, a study committee was formed to examine ways to make the Wisconsin government more open and accessible, and a key recommendation was to create broadcasting for state legislative proceedings. In 2007, WisconsinEye was born, launched with privately raised funds, and the network operated continuously until the recent temporary disruption of service. It is the first and only non-government-controlled state capitol network in the country.
Under a formal agreement with the state Legislature, WisconsinEye is required to stream and archive all floor sessions of the Senate and the Assembly, committee hearings and other official meetings. The network carries no formal agreement with the Governor’s administration or the Supreme Court, but it frequently covers those proceedings as well, along with conferences and other events taking place in the Capitol, enhancing public access to Wisconsin state government.
“That’s really a credit to the dedication of our staff and the heart of our mission, which is to do as much as we can with the resources we have available,” said Jon Henkes, current president and CEO of WisconsinEye.
The network’s mission, as stated publicly: “To inspire informed citizen participation in our representative democracy, across generations, throughout Wisconsin.”
Fred Woskoff, who helped launch the network and served as operations director for seven years, described the original goal as simple: to be a “fly on the wall” inside the state government.
“It always had the same mission,” said Claudia Looze, former WisconsinEye program director. “To serve a consistent nonpartisan source of gavel-to-gavel public access coverage of the Wisconsin government, and that was to be free, and it was to be without any editorial control outside of our organization… we didn’t want to interpret anything, we just wanted to show what was happening so that viewers could make up their own mind.”
For journalists, WisconsinEye has become an essential resource. With the network in place, reporters can monitor hearings remotely, rather than staffing every event in person. Looze explained that having access to the network didn’t replace journalism but supported it “by preserving the unedited source record: what was said, who said it and how the process unfolded.”
Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, wrote that he regularly uses archived footage to verify quotes or review legislative intent years after bills passed, calling WisconsinEye “an accuracy check and a way to see and hear proceedings I could not attend in person.”
Lobbyists, lawyers, municipal officials and everyday residents also have the same ability to follow multiple proceedings without traveling to Madison.
However, maintaining that level of access has required the network to adapt. Through its years of streaming, the network has experienced two significant shifts, Henkes said.
The first was the shift from broadcast and cable television onto streaming services. Henkes noted that 98% of the current viewing audience is viewing on cell phones, laptops and other devices.
The second and most significant was the COVID-19 pandemic, which Henkes said put the network in its current financial situation.
WisconsinEye is funded by charitable contributions. After the pandemic, donors appeared to become more cautious about spending, turning away from making the kind of multiple-year commitments on which the network relies. Competition for philanthropic dollars increased, and political fundraising in Wisconsin hit record-breaking levels, Henkes said.
“For donors whose mindset is politics and government, they have been giving a record amount to candidates, campaigns and causes, and in their mindset, they put WisconsinEye in that same bucket,” Henkes said. “But that’s not who we are. We don’t advocate and we don’t support candidates or campaigns, so we’ve got to fight our way through that fog to make our case within a neutral ground.”
A year and a half ago, the Legislature and governor approved a measure where the state would provide up to $10 million for WisconinEye in a dollar-for-dollar endowment matching campaign, where the state would match donations made by the public to WisconsinEye’s fund. Henkes noted that within the last 18 to 24 months, the network had made over 50 major funding requests, totaling $9.2 million, but because the funding environment was so competitive, they were only able to raise about $200,000.
By mid-December 2025, the financial shortfall forced the network offline. Livestreams stopped and archives were removed.
“There’s an old Joni Mitchell song that says, ‘You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone,’” Lueders wrote.
On Feb. 2, the Joint Committee on Legislative Organization unanimously approved $50,000 to WisconsinEye to restore state Capitol coverage for the remainder of the month.
In a bipartisan movement, on Wednesday, Feb. 18, the Wisconsin Senate passed a bill providing nearly $600,000 in funding for the network. However, the funding plan faces uncertainty because the Assembly has already passed a different proposal that would create a $10 million endowment to support WisconsinEye long term.
Both chambers must agree on the same funding terms before the measure can go to Gov. Tony Evers. With the legislative session nearing adjournment, time is limited.
On Feb. 26, an announcement went up on the site expressing WisconsinEye’s gratitude for the support that allowed restoration of programming in February and hope that the site would be able to continue in March. The announcement further noted that the network is pushing to raise $250,000 in donations to keep operations running smoothly for the remainder of 2026, as state support for the network remains in question. As of March 3, videos and live streams were still available on the site.
And as the future of WisconsinEye remains uncertain, leaders of the network and its supporters are eager to keep the network’s unedited, accessible programming of Wisconsin Government available to the public.
“The recent shutdown made it clear that WisconsinEye is in need of either help or replacement. There are somewhat competing bills…to accomplish these goals,” Lueders wrote. “I hope they succeed in keeping the lights on the democratic process in Wisconsin.”
