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The '''Wisconsin Reporter''' is an online state news website funded by the [[Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity]]. The site launched in January 2011 as a division of StateHouseNews.<ref>Wisconsin Reporter. [http://www.wisconsinreporter.com/about-2 About]. News website. Accessed August 19, 2011.</ref> The Franklin Center funds reporters in over 40 states.<ref>The Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity. [http://www.franklincenterhq.org/2376/think-tank-journalism-the-future-of-investigative-reporting/ Think tank Journalism: The Future of Investigative Journalism]. Organizational website. Accessed August 19, 2011.</ref> Despite their non-partisan description, many of the websites funded by the Franklin Center have received criticism for their conservative bias.<ref>The Portland Press Herald. [http://www.pressherald.com/news/watchdog-website-puts-a-new-spin-on-politics_2010-10-02.html 'Watchdog' website puts a new spin on politics']. News website. Accessed August 19, 2011. </ref><ref>Truthout. [http://www.truth-out.org/koch-spider-web/1312231636 The Koch Spider Web]. News website. Accessed August 19, 2011. </ref>
{{About ALEC}}
===Franklin center Funding===
The Franklin Center was launched by the Chicago-based [[Sam Adams Alliance]] (SAM),<ref>Sam Adams Alliance. [http://www.samadamsalliance.org/media/5148/sam_adams_alliance_media_kit.pdf Sam Adams Alliance Media Kit]. Organizational PDF. Accessed August 19, 2011.</ref> a 501(c)(3) devoted to pushing free-market ideals. SAM gets funding from the [[State Policy Network]],<ref>Media Matters Action Network. [http://mediamattersaction.org/transparency/organization/Sam_Adams_Alliance/funders Sam Adams Alliance]. Conservative Transparency. Accessed August 19, 2011.</ref> which is partially funded by The Claude R. Lambe Foundation.<ref>Media Matters Action Network. [http://mediamattersaction.org/transparency/organization/State_Policy_Network/funders State Policy Network]. Conservative Transparency. Accessed August 19, 2011.</ref> [[Charles Koch]], one of the billionaire brothers who co-own Koch Industries, sits on the board of this foundation.<ref>Media Matters Action Network. [http://mediamattersaction.org/transparency/organization/Claude_R_Lambe_Charitable_Foundation Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation]. Conservative Transparency. Accessed August 19, 2011.</ref> SAM also receives funding from the [[Rodney Fund]]. The Franklin Center also receives funding from the Wisconsin-based [[Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation]],<ref>The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. [http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/127259723.html Franklin Center boss wants apology from Democratic staffer]. News website. Accessed August 19, 2011.</ref> a conservative grant-making organization.<ref>The Bradley Foundation. [http://www.bradleyfdn.org/ The Bradley Foundation]. Organizational website. Accessed August 19, 2011.</ref>
Franklin Center Director of Communications Michael Moroney told the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) in 2013 that the source of the Franklin Center's funding "is 100 percent anonymous." But 95 percent of its 2011 funding came from [[DonorsTrust]], a spin-off of the [[Philanthropy Roundtable]] that functions as a large "donor-advised fund," cloaking the identity of donors to right-wing causes across the country (CPI did a review of Franklin's Internal Revenue Service records).<ref name="Abowd">Paul Abowd, Center for Public Integrity, [http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/02/14/12181/donors-use-charity-push-free-market-policies-states Donors use charity to push free-market policies in states], organizational report, February 14, 2013.</ref> ''Mother Jones'' called DonorsTrust "the dark-money ATM of the conservative movement" in a February 2013 article.<ref>Andy Kroll, [http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/02/donors-trust-donor-capital-fund-dark-money-koch-bradley-devos Exposed: The Dark-Money ATM of the Conservative Movement], ''Mother Jones'', February 5, 2013.</ref> Franklin received DonorTrust's second-largest donation in 2011.<ref name="Abowd"/>
===Staff===
* Alissa Smith, Reporter
==Sourcewatch resources== ==External resourcesContact Information==
Email: info@wisconsinreporter.com
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