TAA condemns attacks on the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism

The TAA condemns in the strongest terms the attempt by the Joint Committee on Finance to destroy the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism by severing it from the University of Wisconsin. This provision, included in Motion 999 to modify the state budget, is set to go to the Assembly and the Senate. Republicans have said they hope to pass the budget without amendments.

The Department of Journalism and the College of Letters and Sciences have made strong statements that the motion is a violation of academic freedom, and that the Center contributes significantly to educating journalism students on campus. We would add that this provision turns back the clock on 100 years of journalistic innovation and exploration at the university, going back to the founding of the nation’s oldest radio station at UW.

The motion affects graduate students in several ways:

• It represents a drastic overreach of state power over the university, stifling academic freedom for graduate students as well as faculty.
• By preventing university employees from working with the Center, the motion may eliminate the opportunity for graduate students to take part in its valuable internship program.
• The Center fits into the history of journalistic innovation at UW, which led to the early radio broadcasting here, aiming to provide an essential service for the people of Wisconsin. The Center produces cutting-edge, award-winning stories that it gives away to publications around the state — publications that often don’t have the resources to do this kind of journalism. In this way, it is a manifestation of the Wisconsin Idea. The attack on the Center is fundamentally an attack on the Wisconsin Idea and the University of Wisconsin community.

Therefore we demand that all legislators refuse to vote for any version of the budget containing the Joint Committee on Finance’s provision to evict the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism from the University of Wisconsin.

Signed,

Charity Schmidt and Michael Billeaux,
Co-Presidents, Teaching Assistants’ Association

Relevant text from Motion 999:

Center for Investigative Journalism. Prohibit the Board of Regents from permitting the Center for Investigative Journalism to occupy any facilities owned or leased by the Board of Regents. In addition, prohibit UW employees from doing any work related to the Center for Investigative Journalism as part of their duties as a UW employee.

See the full motion here.