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Wisconsin Watchdog reporter James Wigderson tweeted on April 14, 2017 that “The Franklin Center is shutting down,” but it appears that Franklin is rebooting.<ref name="damb"/> In a press release on April 17, Franklin announced that Chris Krug, former editor and manager of According to the Illinois News Network will be the new President.<ref>Mary Ellen Beatty, [http://franklincenterhq.org/15282/chris-krug-lead-franklin-center-watchdog-org/ Chris Krug to lead Franklin Center and Watchdog.org], ''Franklin CenterMilwaukee Journal Sentinel'', April 26"[[John Tillman]], 2017.</ref> The Illinois News Network is a project the CEO of the Bradley-funded [[Illinois Policy Institute]], a [[State Policy Network]] “think tankhas been named the new chairman.”"<ref name="mjs"/>
According to the ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'', "[[John Tillman]], the CEO of the [[Illinois Policy Institute]], has been named the new chairman.<ref name="mjs"/>==Bradley Foundation Kept Wisconsin Watchdog Afloat as Franklin Center Struggled Financially===
===Bradley Foundation Kept Wisconsin Watchdog Afloat as Franklin Center Struggled Financially===
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'''The Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity''', publisher of the site "Watchdog.org," is a national 501(c)(3) journalism organization based in Alexandria, Virginia , established in 2009.<ref>Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, [http://franklincenterhq.org/about/ About], organizational website, accessed August 19, 2011.</ref> Franklin writes claims its mission is to be "dedicated to the principles of transparency, accountability, and fiscal responsibility, and highlight their absence in state and local governments," and to "shine the bright light of transparency into government’s government's darkest corners, and expose the facts about government mismanagement and overreach."<ref>Franklin Center For Government & Public Integrity, [http://franklincenterhq.org/about/ About], organizational website, accessed June 23, 2017.</ref> The Franklin Center funded state reporters in more than 40 states in August 2011,<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, since modified by the organization.</ref> and in 34 states in May 2013.<ref name="2013_list">Franklin Center, [http://www.sourcewatch.org/images/e/e5/Franklin_Center_May_2013.pdf Watchdog.org], organizational document, May 2013, obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy June 2013.</ref> As of June 2017, Watchdog.org has state bureaus in seven states , according to its staff list. Despite their non-partisan description, many of these websites have received criticism for their conservative bias.<ref>Rebekah Metzler, [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'], ''The Portland Press Herald'', accessed August 19, 2011.</ref><ref>Allison Kilkenny, [http://www.truth-out.org/koch-spider-web/1312231636 The Koch Spider Web], ''Truthout'', August 4, 2011.</ref>
At a time when there are fewer and fewer statehouse reporters -- as of the ''American Journalism Review'''s most recent count in 2009, there were 355 in the entire country, down from 524 in 2003,<ref>[http://ajr.org/article.asp?id=4722 AJR's 2009 Count of Statehouse Reporters], ''American Journalism Review'', April/May 2009, accessed November 2013.</ref> bluntly called a "statehouse exodus" by the same journal<ref>Jennifer Dorroh, [http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4721 Statehouse Exodus], ''American Journalism Review'', April/May 2009, accessed November 2013.</ref> -- former ''Reuters'' chief White House correspondent Gene Gibbons described the rush of groups like the Franklin Center to fill the gap as follows: "an army of Internet start-ups, some practicing traditional journalism in a new medium, others delivering political propaganda dressed up as journalism -- are crawling all over the picnic. . . . At the forefront is the one‐year-old Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity . . ."<ref name="GibbonsKennedy">Gene Gibbons, [http://shorensteincenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/d59_gibbons.pdf Ants at the Picnic: A Status Report on News Coverage of State Government], Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy Discussion Paper Series, #D‐59, June 2010.</ref>
===Franklin Center Under New Leadership===
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Wisconsin Watchdog reporter James Wigderson tweeted on April 14, 2017, “The Franklin Center is shutting down,” but a few days later, it appeared that Franklin was rebooting.<ref name="damb"/> In a press release on April 17, Franklin announced that Chris Krug, former editor and manager of the Illinois News Network, would be the new President.<ref>Mary Ellen Beatty, [http://franklincenterhq.org/15282/chris-krug-lead-franklin-center-watchdog-org/ Chris Krug to lead Franklin Center and Watchdog.org], ''Franklin Center'', April 26, 2017.</ref> The Illinois News Network is a project of the Bradley-funded [[Illinois Policy Institute]], a [[State Policy Network]] “think tank.”
A 2017 Center for Media and Democracy investigation of [[Bradley Foundation]] internal documents revealed that "in recent years the Franklin Center has foundered. The number of state offices dwindled to five in 2016 and employees fled the sinking ship when a single, mystery funder withdrew support."<ref name="damb">David Armiak and Mary Bottari, [http://www.exposedbycmd.org/2017/05/25/bradley-foundation-floated-wisconsin-watchdog-franklin-center-floundered/ Bradley Foundation Floated Wisconsin Watchdog While Franklin Center Floundered], ''ExposedbyCMD'', May 25, 2017.</ref>
It is a “text "text book case of imprudent funding,” " wrote Bradley staff. “Unable "Unable to resist the offer of $10M annually from one source, the organization grew beyond its capacity to manage itself, and became too dependent on one funder, making it able to shrug off criticism from elsewhere (including Bradley). Last year, when that funder shifted priorities and the fecklessness of the administration became evident, the organization began to collapse” collapse" (Grant Proposal Record, August 16, 2016).<ref name="damb"/>
When Bradley staff were unsure if Franklin CEO Nicolle Niely was “up "up to the job,” " they still funded Wisconsin Watchdog because it was “so "so effective and such a valuable partner in the state’s conservative infrastructure.”"<ref name="damb"/>{{Clear}}{{Clearclear}}
{{Bradley}}
CAV's lawyer, James D. Skyles, was previously General Counsel and Director of Operations at the [[Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity]].<ref>Andy Kroll, "[http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/06/wisconsin-recall-coalition-american-values-scott-walker Could this Pro-Walker Dark-Money Group Torpedo Recall Turnout?]," ''Mother Jones'', June 5, 2012.</ref>
The CAV's federal PAC has also paid money to a consulting firm run by John Connors, a leader of operations at the Franklin Center, and president of the group "[[Citizens for a Strong America]]," which was also active in the Wisconsin recall elections and kept its donors hidden, while operating out of a UPS drop box.<ref name="koch network funded"/> <ref name="graves csa">Lisa Graves, "[http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/04/10534/group-called-citizens-strong-america-operates-out-ups-mail-drop-runs-expensive-ad Group Called "Citizens for a Strong America" Operates out of a UPS Mail Drop but Runs Expensive Ads in Supreme Court Race?]," Center for Media and Democracy, PRWatch, April 2, 2011. Accessed July 29, 2014.</ref>
Additionally, as the Center for Media and Democracy reported,<ref>Brendan Fischer, [http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/12/12344/why-franklin-center-wisconsin-reporter-attacking-john-doe Why Are the Franklin Center's "Wisconsin Reporter" and "Watchdog.org" Attacking the John Doe?], ''PRWatch.org'', December 19, 2013.</ref> "[t]he 'treasurer' listed on Coalition for American Values' FEC filings and the contact on its filings with Wisconsin's election board is Brent Downs. In 2008, when Connors chaired the Marquette College Republicans, Downs was his treasurer. Both were both students at Marquette University at the same time, and Downs, like Connors, also chaired the Students for Prosperity chapter of [[David Koch]]'s [[Americans for Prosperity]] at Marquette University."
*Tyler Arnold, Journalism Fellow
'''As of June 2017, the Franklin Center staff website is down , so it is unclear if the following are still employed:'''
'''Leadership Team'''
