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>> The Wisconsin version of
C-Span has gone dark.

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Wisconsin. I now shows this
message on its website

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saying it is off the air.
The private nonprofit

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service started in 2007,
providing live and archived

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online and cable TV
coverage of state

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government. But money to
run the operation ran out.

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Wisconsin ESSER Roe Jon
Henkes joins us now. And

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thanks very much for being
here.

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>> My pleasure. Thank you.
>> So what has been the

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reaction from the Wisconsin
I audience to the fact that

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it went off the air?
>> Different audiences have

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slightly different takes on
on the reaction. On the

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positive side, we have seen
an outpouring of small

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gifts made via online, the
likes of which we've not

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seen. So in a period of
about two weeks, we've

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generated almost $60,000 in
gifts ranging from $5 to

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$1000. That's been very
encouraging. And it says

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that citizens at large
really do care about

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Wisconsinites future.
Disappointing to a degree

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has been we've not heard
from those larger donor

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philanthropist types who
who are capable of of

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supporting Wisconsin. And
we know that they value it

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from the perspective of
elected officials. They are

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anxious for Wisconsin. I to
light up the archive, which

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can happen very soon, as
well as return to full

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coverage of of live events.
So there are discussions

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going on behind the scenes
right now. Our credit goes

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to the elected officials in
the legislature and the

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governor's office. These
are the folks who over time,

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different people, but the
same bipartisan sentiment

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have said unequivocally
that an independent

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approach to state
government coverage is the

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Wisconsin way.
>> Because I know that you

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were hoping for $10 million
in state funding, but that

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had to have those matching
funds, as you just talked

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about from donations. But
was that ever a realistic

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goal and how are you
working around that? Are

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you able to get some of
that state funding without

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having to do the match?
>> The hope is that by

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state action, those dollars
that had the match

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requirement can be released
in some portion, in whole

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or in part to help
Wisconsin, I move forward.

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We've got five employees
and a budget of less than a

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million, and we're
producing on a busy day in

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the capital, up to 10 or 11
events, five of them

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simultaneously live. So we
can make a very strong

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argument that this is a
lean operation that

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delivers quality at a very
affordable price. We're not

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asking for new state money.
These dollars have already

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been allocated toward
Wisconsin. So with with

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some simple assurances of
forward progress, I believe

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we can achieve both.
Reactivate the archive

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quickly and be on the air
quickly and be on the air