David Michael Miller
Sen. Dan Feyen (R-Fond Du Lac) really didn’t want to answer questions about gun violence. Feyen was trying to stay out of the media spotlight as majority Republicans in the state Legislature failed, once again, to do anything substantive to stop gun violence. They were following the tried and true tactic of waiting out the clock until attention moved on to the next story. However, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Patrick Marley spotted Feyen making his way to the bathroom and decided to ask him some questions on guns.
After Feyen’s embarrassing quotes were published by the paper, Feyen took to Twitter to accuse Marley of publishing comments that were “off the record.” That’s a very serious accusation to make about a journalist. It’s not unlike accusing a physician of violating doctor-patient privilege. Marley, a veteran reporter, was well-equipped to defend himself. But that’s not the point. When faced with unflattering news coverage, Feyen chose to question the ethics and integrity of the media.
On a national level, Republicans using the media as a punching bag is nothing new. It was the centerpiece of an entire presidential campaign. But, until recently, elected Republicans in the Badger State have generally had a friendlier relationship with Wisconsin-based media.
Unfortunately, Feyen’s outburst isn’t an isolated incident. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Burlington) eventually blamed the media for news reports over the Speaker’s own refusal to provide accommodations for Rep. Jimmy Anderson (D-Monona), who uses a wheelchair. Vos is clearly in the wrong — providing accommodations for disabled lawmakers, regardless of party, is the moral and widely supported thing to do. Yet, Vos kept digging himself further and further into the hole by prolonging this fight that he cannot win.
Vos finally relented in the pettiest, most petulant and bizarre way possible.
“At the end of the day we’re going to make accommodations, and there will be no news coverage of it because it’s all about making Republicans look bad,” Vos said Aug. 15 on The Jay Weber Show, a conservative talk radio show.
What? Of course, there will be coverage when accommodations are in place. That’s a slam-dunk, feel good story that’s easy to capture. That is the stuff TV news is made for. This isn’t just a false accusation, it’s a nonsensical one.
In that same radio interview, Vos said that “making Republicans look bad” is “full-time fodder” for the Journal Sentinel and the Wisconsin State Journal. It’s a silly argument that either of the state’s two largest papers are out to get Republicans. By and large, their staffs provide invaluable coverage of the statehouse. Sometimes, the papers can get a little too caught up in uncovering questionable scandals, but it’s not like they do this with a particularly partisan lens. The Journal Sentinel’s Dan Bice squeezed every last drop he could out of the fact that Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes had some unpaid parking tickets. The State Journal busted out two “BREAKING” news notifications for stories about Barnes’ college graduation status (after Isthmus’ Dylan Brogan had broken the news). Hardly the work of papers with a full-time mission to embarrass Vos and friends.
There are a couple of reasons why I think Republicans like Feyen and Vos are attacking local media. First of all, Republicans are unhappy that they have to share the microphone now. For eight years, they held the governorship and both legislative houses. They got to unilaterally set the state’s agenda. Thus, they had a lot of power to frame how issues were covered in the news. Reporters would usually give Democrats a space for a quote but, often, only in response to Republicans.
With Gov. Tony Evers in office, Democrats now get their share of front-page stories. The office of the governor can draw attention to issues and policy approaches. For the first time in nearly a decade, Republicans are asked by journalists to respond to someone else’s agenda. For insecure folks like Vos or Feyen, that loss of privilege is going to feel like an attack.
On a more frightening level, this is a sign of a Republican Party that has decided to fall even more in line behind Pres. Donald Trump, mimicking his tactics and tone. Gov. Scott Walker liked to pretend that he wouldn’t back down from a fight, but he quickly caved to public outrage when ideas fell flat on their face, including his attempts to gut open records laws or rewrite UW-Madison’s mission by eliminating the Wisconsin Idea. Vos and Feyen, instead, stand in defiance of the people and blame the media for simply pointing out how they are bucking public opinion.
Attacks on the news media are contributing to the ever-growing rift in this country; sometimes it feels like we barely live in the same reality anymore. Unfortunately, here, in an already divided state, the national rot has started to seep in. Vos and Feyen are doing more than just shifting blame off of themselves, they are weakening our democracy itself.
Alan Talaga co-writes the Off the Square cartoon with Jon Lyons.
