Sunday, February 15, 2026
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Sunday, February 15, 2026

Milwaukee Press Club 'Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism' 2020 & 2021 Award Winners

Cancel Culture & Echo Chambers, Where Democracy Dies

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By: Paris Procopis

Ever since the extreme Left started canceling everybody on the right, there was immediate knee-jerk canceling in retaliation by many on the right. The seeds of division were sewed and many Conservatives retreated and took refuge in their echo chambers. Yes, there is safety in the echo chamber, but we need to break out and reengage with others before it’s too late.

I will say this loud and clear, we cannot win the cancel culture war by engaging in cancel culture ourselves.

If this continues, as Conservatives, we will fail in November. We must establish a beachhead in this political battle that will determine the very future of Wisconsin and maybe even America itself.

Ever since I was a kid watching Ronald Reagan on TV, I have been interested in politics. Throughout my adult years, I have volunteered and helped organize events and rallies. I have also done my own podcast, videos, and public speaking. A lot of the time was spent preaching to the choir. Why? Because it’s exciting to motivate like-minded people who love the Conservative message. And motivation creates action.

Unfortunately, that action has dwindled because our side has disengaged. What good is an echo chamber if you do nothing with it? Sure, it’s a swift kick in the pants to get out there and work, but it does nothing if we are not increasing our numbers.

If all we do is tell people what they want to hear and what they already know, we are risking our cause.

Back in 2016, we noticed something different, then-candidate Donald Trump broke through the glass walls of the echo chamber because he was reaching out to people who had become disenchanted with leadership on both sides and needed a home. New people were hearing the Conservative message and not since Ronald Reagan, was there someone so pragmatic. The ‘Reagan Democrats’ came ‘home’ and the rest was history.

Unfortunately, because the leftist control of the mainstream media, social media, and many levels of government, there was a non-stop barrage of Trump hatred and disgust of Trump supporters. We especially saw this on the social media front. The Left developed such a visceral hatred of Trump, mainly because he committed the cardinal sin of beating Hillary. This hatred made people ‘unfriend’ Trump supporters. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube literally started censoring free speech on the Conservative side, and tens of thousands of people left the platforms, dwindling Conservative numbers.

Alternatives sprang up as a landing place for Conservatives to have a home but welcomed actual civil discourse. Sites like Truth Social, Gettr, Parler, etc, have been very successful, even though I joined all of them. What I noticed was Conservatives, once again, getting a voice. The only problem, liberals stayed away. The very people who needed to hear the message. An echo chamber on steroids.

Why am I writing about the seemingly obvious? We need to get serious about this election. America is at a crossroads, and we need to save her from the brink of Socialism. President Trump was seemingly our last chance, but his ‘losing’ in 2020 put us on the brink.

Ironically, if it wasn’t for two Democrat Senators, we would already have fallen off the cliff. We have a second chance to get in the way of this extremist left-wing ideology infesting every part of our lives.

In November, we need to get control of Congress, to do so, we need to save Senator Ron Johnson from the extremist false narrative, but also, we need to beat Tony Evers. To do this we need to break out of the echo chamber. ALL OF US!

What good is having the right message if no one hears it? We can take nothing for granted in this election. It’s not a foregone conclusion, not even close! We all have been in the echo chamber for far too long, hanging with like-minded people, watching and listening to like-minded pundits and Madison Consultants. Remember, those in the Madison Consultant class who are making it seem like a slam dunk have nothing to lose, they will still have a job no matter the outcome in November.

These echo chambers lead to complacency and complacency is what the Left wants. We need to get out and engage people, all people. If you can find a reasonable person on the Left, don’t try to change their mind, just let them know why you are supporting Conservatives and let them digest the information and change their own mind.

Even the smallest seed can become the mighty sequoia

That is only a small part of it, as they’re only a few minds that are left to be changed. Let’s be real here, this is a turnout election. There is hope around the country, just looking at Trump rallies we can clearly see where the energy is. We have the makings of that proverbial ‘Red Wave’

We just need to make sure that wave does not miss Wisconsin.

Clearly, Conservatives have the energy, but we need to do something with it.

So, here’s what I am asking. Get back on the primary social media like Facebook and Twitter. Let them hear your voice. They can’t shadow-ban everyone. Attend every rally you can but spread the word about the rallies and bring other people with you.

I have seen a seismic shift in attendees at many of the rallies and events I have been involved with. Sure, the choir is there, but I am seeing lots of new faces. Hopeful, but we can do better.

Senator Ron Johnson does not have Trump on the ballot, but they still detest him like they do Trump and are doing everything to derail his momentum and the social media algorithms. Visionaries like Elon Musk have given free speech some hope if the Twitter deal gets finalized, but he is one man, we ALL need to mobilize.

I am not telling you this to deflate, but to motivate you. The country needs us, all of us. Nobody knows what the outcome will be in November, NOBODY! To pretend otherwise is foolish. We have seven months, a political eternity, to close this deal and literally save Wisconsin and the American Way from the Socialist Left.

The Silent Majority needs to mobilize. Only a sweep with Recall level turnout will give the Left the proverbial ‘bitch slap’ it so badly needs. The election is ours to win, a chance to liberate us from the clutches of the socialist Left, right now we are just landing at our Omaha Beach.

It’s that serious, let’s roll and break out of that echo chamber and STOP CANCELLING each other!

Time to get into the fight!

“I don’t say these things because I believe in the ‘brute’ nature of men or that men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in God, and I believe in human decency. But I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour — his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear — is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious.” – Coach Vincent T. Lombardi, Green Bay Packers

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(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction spent $368,885 to hold a four-day standard setting event in June 2024 at a Wisconsin Dells waterpark, according to a new report.

The event included 88 expert educators who were subject to non-disclosure agreements related to the workshop, according to records obtained by Dairyland Sentinel.

The publication fought for more than a year to obtain records of the meeting through Wisconsin Open Records law and attributes the Monday release of 17 more pages of documents to the involvement of the Institute for Reforming Government.

“The agency did not provide receipts for staff time, food, travel, or lodging,” Dairyland Sentinel wrote of the event at Chula Vista Resort in Wisconsin Dells. “Taxpayers are left to wonder how much of that $368,885 was spent on resort amenities, alcohol, or water park access for the 88 educators and various staff in attendance.”

There are no recordings of the event, DPI told the outlet, and meeting minutes were not sent as part of the public records response.

DPI was found by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty to have lowered school report card cut points in 2020-21, changed the labels on those in 2023-24 and lowered the cut points again that year as well.

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(The Center Square) – WisconsinEye was back on the air broadcasting legislative hearings at Wisconsin’s capitol Tuesday, starting with a hearing on a bill to send long-term funding assistance to the private nonprofit that broadcasts Wisconsin state government meetings.

WisconsinEye received $50,000 in funding through the Joint Committee on Legislative Organization to go on the air during February.

Assembly Bill 974 would allow the network to receive the interest from a $9.75 million endowment each year, estimated to be between 4-7% or between $390,000 and $682,000. The network would have to continue raising the rest of its budget, which board chair Mark O’Connell said is $950,000 annually.

He spoke during a public hearing in the Assembly Committee on State Affairs on Monday. A companion bill in the Senate is not yet filed.

“We’ll need some kind of bridge,” O’Connell cautioned, saying it will take time for the trust fund granted in the 2024-25 budget to earn interest and get it to the network.

O’Connell also said that he hopes the legislation can be changed to allow for the Wisconsin Investment Board to be aggressive while investing the fund.

O’Connell noted that WisconsinEye raised more than $56,000 through donations on GoFundMe since it went off the air Dec. 15 and that there are seven donors willing to give $25,000 annually and one that will donate $50,000 annually if the legislation passes, which he said would put the network in a “relatively strong position in partnership with the state.”

O’Connell noted that many states fund their own in-house network to broadcast the legislature and committees.

“This legislation will fund only about 1/3 of what we need,” O’Connell said.

The bill has four restrictions, starting with the requirement that appointees of the Assembly Speaker, Senate Majority Leader, Assembly Minority Leader and Senate Minority Leader that are not members of the Legislature be added to the WisEye board of directors.

WisEye will be required to focus coverage on official state government meetings and business, provide free online access to its live broadcasts and digital archives and that WisEye provides an annual financial report to the Legislature and Joint Finance Committee.

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(The Center Square) - A bipartisan Assembly bill that would re-start live stream operations of Wisconsin government from WisconsinEye is expected to receive its first committee discussion during a public hearing at noon Tuesday in the Committee on State Affairs.

The bill proposes granting WisconsinEye funds from $10 million set aside for matching funds in an endowment so that WisconsinEye can resume operations now, something that WisEye President and CEO Jon Henkes told The Center Square in November he was hoping to happen.

WisEye shut down operations and removed its archives from the being available online Dec. 15.

The bill, which is scheduled for both a public hearing and vote in committee Tuesday, would remove the endowment fund restrictions on the funds and instead put the $10 million in a trust that can be used to provide grants for operations costs to live stream Wisconsin government meetings, including committee and full Assembly and Senate meetings at the state capitol.

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“Finally, under the bill, if WisconsinEye ceases operations and divests its assets, WisconsinEye must pay back the grants and transfer all of its archives to the state historical society,” the bill reads.

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