Introducing “Civic Media Today”

3 min read

Introducing “Civic Media Today”

Sep 17, 2025, 11:56 AM CST

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A few weeks ago, amid celebrating my now-one full year at Civic Media, I realized something. Across our network, we put out a tremendous amount of content on any given day.

Between the nine hours of original political talk and commentary shows we broadcast every weekday, the myriad of podcasts and weekly shows we produce, our growing news team with reporters all over the state churning out stories and newscasts, and the 25 (and counting!) radio stations that are now a part of our network, it really is a lot to keep up with. It can be rather discombobulating, frankly.

And this is why I want to bring a little bit of our Recombobulation Area energy to help make it easier to connect with all things Civic Media.

So today, we are launching a brand new email newsletter. It’s called “Civic Media Today.”

It’s going to be your one-stop shop for all things Civic Media, and it’s going to be available for free (that’s right, no paywalls!).

This will connect you to news stories and podcasts and video livestreams and so much of the great work that so many people are doing at this bold, enterprising, pro-democracy media organization. There’s truly nothing like this out there, and we want to share more of what we’re doing with all of you.

So, for all of you here at The Recombobulation Area, we are giving you a 1 month free trial to .”

You can find the newsletter and get connected here, at , and see our welcome post below (and here).

Civic Media Today
Welcome to Civic Media Today!
Civic Media is a Wisconsin-based, pro-democracy, locally-focused media organization that includes 25 radio stations across the state and a whole lot more. We are excited to be bringing you a brand new free email newsletter here on Substack — sent straight to your inbox Monday through Friday…
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Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. In 2024, he became the Political Editor of Civic Media. He’s written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 23 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

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Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer and at BlueSky at @danshafer.bsky.social.

Dan Shafer

Dan Shafer is a veteran Milwaukee journalist, an award-winning weekly opinion columnist, Civic Media’s Political Editor, and author of The Recombobulation Area.

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