Dressed up like a hometown newspaper, the Wisconsin Transcript landed in Milwaukee-area mailboxes this month with the Capitol dome on the cover and a slogan running across the top: “Local News. Community. Faith. Events.”
Inside is a claim the Polish Center of Wisconsin says is false.
The publication, dated Aug. 6, was sent out days before Wisconsin’s primary for governor. The pages are filled with mugshots from Wisconsin jails, stories about Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany criticizing his Democratic opponents, and an “immigration tracker” listing the organizations it says got the most federal resettlement money in Wisconsin.
Third on the list is the “Polish Community Center (Milwaukee),” at $3,096,927.
However, the Polish Center of Wisconsin said it has never received federal immigration funds and does not run a resettlement program. It knows of no other Milwaukee-area group by that name.
The center is owned by the Polish Heritage Alliance, a nonprofit built around Polish cultural events and education. The group put out a public statement Aug. 11 debunking the publication’s claims.
“We chose to address the claim proactively because we believe Wisconsin voters, our members, donors, and the broader community deserve access to accurate information,” spokeswoman Lauren Nitka Adeniyi told Public Investigator.
The Polish Center still doesn’t know who to contact about the error. No publishers or writers are named in the publication.
Who is behind the Wisconsin Transcript?
This isn’t the first Wisconsin mailer with a publisher nobody can pin down.
The Wisconsin Transcript resembles other mysterious publications mailed to residents in recent years that look like local newspapers but are thinly reported and promote Republican candidates.
Critics call the genre “pink slime” journalism, because the publications are designed to pass as independent local news. Papers like these usually contain no bylines or contact information and lean on politicians’ posts and press releases instead of original reporting.
In October 2024, Catholic leaders across several dioceses announced they had no connection to the Wisconsin Catholic Tribune, after copies of the right-wing mailer landed in Wisconsin mailboxes ahead of the November presidential election.
Also in October 2024, Waukesha County residents received a publication called the Waukesha Times designed to look like an actual newspaper. Several stories conveyed false information targeting Democrats.
Researchers traced both publications to Metric Media, a network running over 1,200 politically-backed news sites across the United States bankrolled by conservative donors.
The Wisconsin Transcript lists a return address at 2045 W. Grand Ave. in Chicago, the same address used by the Waukesha Times.
However, the address is a virtual mailbox shared by hundreds of unrelated businesses, not a newsroom. Unlike the Waukesha Times, Wisconsin Transcript doesn’t appear on Metric Media’s site and doesn’t appear to have a website at all.
Mailer includes stories about Tom Tiffany, immigration and crime
Several stories in the publication are focused on Tom Tiffany, the Republican congressman running for governor.
One covers his criticism of his Democratic opponents on immigration and criminal justice. Another is about an endorsement from the Milwaukee Deputy Sheriffs’ Association.
Caroline Briscoe, a campaign spokesperson, said Tiffany is not familiar with the Wisconsin Transcript and has never talked to the paper. The newspaper’s material was pulled from things Tiffany has already said publicly online, she said.
Other stories in the issue include a guide to green cards, a story on the Democratic Socialists of America’s role in Wisconsin politics, and a full page of local mugshots headlined “On the Wall.”
The mugshot page includes a note that the “Wisconsin Democratic Socialists of America” has called for abolishing the police and prison system.
Democratic Socialists of America has no statewide Wisconsin chapter. It organizes locally, with chapters in Milwaukee, Madison and northeast Wisconsin.
DSA’s national program does list abolishing police and prisons as a long-term goal. The immediate steps it lists are demilitarizing police departments and ending qualified immunity.
The other data in the Wisconsin Transcript’s “immigration tracker” also had issues.
There is no group called “Benevolent Community Services” in Madison, and the “Center for Veterans Issues” does not appear to operate out of Eau Claire. The YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee does not offer any resettlement programs.
The Wisconsin Transcript implies that Wisconsin spent $158.7 million in taxpayer funds to re-settle 17,606 refugees in fiscal year 2024.
Records show the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement allocated Wisconsin about $4.4 million in Refugee Support Services funding for fiscal year 2024. That money went to the state, not directly to individual nonprofits. The allocation was based on 2,453 people served over the two prior fiscal years.
Misinformation experts said one way to check if a newspaper is valid is to look for real bylines on stories. If no reporter or publisher is listed, that’s a sign it could be a “pink slime” publication.
Another is to look at who pays for it. To check whether a news publication is funded by a political party, the Tow Center maintains a list of partisan news sites and newspapers here.
Quinn Clark is a Public Investigator reporter. She can be emailed at QClark@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Quinn_A_Clark.
Sophie Carson of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Polish Center says mystery Wisconsin newspaper made false claims
Reporting by Quinn Clark, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Quinn Clark, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
