Sometimes life hits you with full-circle moments. For me, writing this is one of them.
After eight years away from the Badger State, I returned home this month to start my role as the new state government and politics reporter at Wisconsin Watch. I will be following the major stories inside the Capitol and connecting with key players in and outside of the building to make sure Wisconsinites understand what is happening in their government and how it affects their lives.
This work is important to me because Wisconsin is my home. I grew up in the Milwaukee area and graduated from Marquette University, where I earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Real-world reporting opportunities in college at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service launched my career and taught me the value of community journalism. (NNS is now part of Wisconsin Watch, another full-circle moment.)
I spent my post-college years reporting on local government at the Naples Daily News in southwest Florida and most recently in Indiana at the Indianapolis Star. Over four-and-a-half years in Indianapolis, I covered local, state and federal politics in the Hoosier State, which included stories on Democratic infighting over reproductive care, the dilemma over how far Republicans should go on property tax reform and how the state’s child labor violations rose as lawmakers rolled back existing protections.
One thing never changed during my time away: Wisconsin was always on my mind, and frequently in the national spotlight. (It hasn’t even been six months since the April Supreme Court race set another spending record.) I felt a pull to return home, and Wisconsin Watch gave me that rare opportunity.
I’m thrilled to be back and to contribute to the important journalism my colleagues are doing every day across the state.
In the meantime, you can help me get going in this essential work. Email me at bcarloni@wisconsinwatch.org with your ideas on what to look into, questions about why our government works the way it does and suggestions for who I should meet. You can also subscribe to our weekly politics newsletter, Forward, to stay informed about what’s coming each week at the Capitol.
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