Civic Media welcomes Dan Shafer and The Recombobulation Area to its growing Wisconsin network

Madison, Wis. – Civic Media is pleased to announce the addition of The Recombobulation Area to its growing Wisconsin media network, the first non-radio acquisition since its founding in 2022.  

Dan Shafer, founder of The Recombobulation Area and longtime Milwaukee-based journalist, is joining Civic Media as Political Editor. In his new role, he will continue to edit and write for the popular Wisconsin and Milwaukee political news publication, while also helping shape the voice of Civic Media’s political coverage, both online and on the air.

The Recombobulation Area has thousands of subscribers, has been read in 50 states and 66 countries and, to date, has reached more than 1.5 million readers. The publication has won 13 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism awards in four years for opinion writing, feature stories, multi-story coverage, and public service journalism.  Shafer has been active as a radio personality as a regular guest on Civic Media’s “Matenaer on Air” and several other shows. He also regularly appears on Milwaukee-based Newsradio 620 WTMJ and on Chicago-based WCPT 820. 

“I am thrilled to be joining Civic Media as its new Political Editor, and tremendously excited about this new chapter for The Recombobulation Area,” said Shafer. “We are ready for this publication to take the next step, and we are overjoyed to be able to do that as part of the dynamic and ambitious Civic Media network alongside so many talented and passionate people.

“I want to thank The Recombobulation Area’s dedicated subscribers for their support over the years, helping build and grow this publication from a part-time project that I started when I was a stay-at-home dad to the thriving media outlet it is today. Through this new agreement, we hope to continue to grow The Recombobulation Area as part of the Civic Media network, and chart a course for a bold future together.”

As part of this agreement, Shafer will continue to write his award-winning weekly opinion column at The Recombobulation Area, and will be helping lead Civic Media’s political coverage in a variety of ways.

“Dan Shafer has quickly established The Recombobulation Area and himself as a vital resource for smart and incisive coverage of Wisconsin politics,” said David Hyland, Director of Content for Civic Media. “This acquisition will propel our collective efforts, reaching broader audiences and allowing this work to go to the next level.” 

“Dan Shafer and The Recombobulation Area exemplify the type of thoughtful, in-depth, and locally-focused reporting that is so important to Wisconsin,” said Sage Weil, CEO of Civic Media.  “We can’t wait to bring his voice to the rest of the Civic Media network, both on and off the air.  It is local journalism, with an emphasis on local issues and an understanding of what is important in local communities, that will rebuild trust in our media ecosystem and, ultimately, our democracy.”

The Recombobulation Area has become known for its political coverage, emerging as one of  the most prominent sources of political opinion and commentary in Wisconsin. It has also been celebrated for its coverage of complex issues like gerrymandering, infrastructure, and the relationship between state and local government, as well as in-depth coverage of elections in the Wisconsin State Legislature.

Along with Shafer’s widely-read weekly political opinion column, The Recombobulation Area has also welcomed several more voices to its pages, including regular contributors Angela Lang, the executive director of Black Leaders Organizing for Communities (BLOC), and Philip Rocco, professor of political science at Marquette University. Lang and Rocco each earned Milwaukee Press Club awards for their work in 2023.  We look forward to continuing to hear their voices on The Recombobulation Area and other Civic Media stations and properties.

The Recombobulation Area gets its name from that one-of-a-kind post-security area at the Milwaukee airport. With our discombobulating news cycle in Milwaukee and Wisconsin, we often need a place like this to gather our things and take a moment to make sense of the world around us before heading to our destination. That’s part of what The Recombobulation Area brings to its readership, and what Civic Media–with Dan’s help–hope to bring to the rest of Wisconsin.

CIVIC MEDIA is a new radio and digital media venture with 20 radio stations across Wisconsin in 12 distinct news/talk media markets, including two stations (WAUK and WRJN) in the Milwaukee area.

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Civic Media is dedicated to providing quality broadcast and digital hometown radio focusing on local, regional, and state issues, covering the stories that are most relevant to the markets we serve. We believe radio plays a crucial role in the practice of democracy in our local communities, so we aim to provide programming that advances the understanding and engagement of its principles within our audience.

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