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The recently wrapped Republican National Convention in Milwaukee rolled out the red carpet (literally!) for local Wisconsin media outlets — the first arrangement of its kind at a national political convention.

And by most accounts, “Wisconsin Media Row” was a success.

Over the four-day nominating event, delegates and elected officials — most of them from Wisconsin — made their way to the western concourse of the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena where they found a bustling collection of the state’s newspaper, radio, TV and online journalists. 

Each of the 24 participating outlets paid $125, and the RNC provided wifi, electricity, tables, chairs and signage. The RNC designed a “Wisconsin Media Row” logo featured prominently on the arena marquee and directed delegates and surrogates to the space. Navy blue pipe-and-curtain dividers emblazoned with the RNC 2024 logo, a central suite of comfy couches, and the splash of red carpeting really tied the space together.

U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, who represents conservative parts of central and eastern Wisconsin, said it was “a cool sort of thing” that he could do an interview with Milwaukee’s 101.7 The Truth, a station with which he had never interacted before.

“It’s a smart idea,” Grothman said of a local media area at the convention. “For cost reasons, in part, the little radio station, the little newspaper gets left behind, and there’s no reason that should be so.”

He encouraged both the Republican and Democratic national parties to make similar accommodations at future events.

“It’s important for us to promote the little media, right?” Grothman said. “We don’t want everybody just listening to Fox or MSNBC and that sort of thing. It’s important to support your small media outlets, and that’s one way to do it.”

National political conventions are challenging for small local outlets to cover. They draw some 50,000 people, including thousands of reporters from all over the world. Larger organizations like CNN, NPR, CBS News and The New York Times can shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars to set up broadcast booths and mini-newsrooms within the security perimeter.

That’s why Wisconsin Watch worked with local media organizations and the RNC to create a first-of-its-kind space at a national political convention.

Members of the Wisconsin media consortium praised the local reporter accommodations.

“Wisconsin Media Row gave local reporters a sense of place amidst a wild week when many factors felt up in the air,” said Erin McGroarty, politics and government reporter for the Madison-based Cap Times. “The presence of a dedicated space for local press organizations allowed Wisconsin news groups to work together, bounce ideas off of each other and feel a sense of camaraderie as we worked to give our state critical coverage of a historical event.”

John Laughrin, news director for WFRV-TV in Green Bay, appreciated the practical aspects of having a place to store extra gear and equipment, plenty of power strips to support everyone working on laptops and reliable internet.

Wisconsin State Journal state government reporter Mitchell Schmidt said his team used Wisconsin Media Row primarily as a space to file stories, discuss the day’s plans, catch delegates and lawmakers as they came through for sit-down interviews or quick press gaggles, and simply recuperate.

After doing a round of interviews with several of the participating outlets, including the State Journal, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Urban Milwaukee, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson credited the generosity of the donors to the RNC Host Committee, which raised $85 million for the entire convention.

“Those things cost money, so somebody’s got to pay,” Johnson said of Wisconsin Media Row.

Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, attending his 12th RNC, endorsed creating a local media area at future conventions, calling it “a no-brainer.”

“You guys convey the message,” Thompson said. “And if you don’t convey the message, you don’t get your message out, you don’t win. It’s just utterly stupid if you don’t do it. I think it’s fantastic.”

Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.

A Wisconsin man fled to Ireland and sought asylum to avoid a prison sentence for joining a mob’s attack on the U.S. Capitol over three years ago, federal authorities allege in a court filing Tuesday.

The filing charges Paul Kovacik with defying a court order to surrender and serve three months behind bars for participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.

Kovacik, 56, was arrested last month after he voluntarily returned to the U.S. from Ireland. Kovacik is serving his sentence at a federal prison in Chicago and is scheduled to be released from prison on Sept. 8. But a conviction on the new misdemeanor charge could lead to more time behind bars.

Kovacik told authorities that he decided to withdraw his asylum claim and return to the U.S. because he felt homesick, according to a U.S. Marshals Service deputy’s affidavit.

The FBI initially arrested Kovacik in June 2022. A year later, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton sentenced Kovacik after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 06: WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 06: Crowds gather outside the U.S. Capitol for the “Stop the Steal” rally on January 06, 2021 in Washington, DC. Trump supporters gathered in the nation’s capital today to protest the ratification

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Kovacik took videos of rioters’ damage as he moved through the Capitol on Jan. 6. He later uploaded his footage onto his YouTube channel, with titles such as “Treason Against the United States is about to be committed,” according to prosecutors. They said Kovacik’s criminal record included 24 prior convictions.

Walton initially ordered Kovacik to report to prison on Aug. 22, 2023, but the judge agreed to extend that deadline to Nov. 1, 2023, after Kovacik requested more time for his seasonal employment at a theme park in Georgia.

The court issued a warrant for Kovacik’s arrest after he flew to Dublin, Ireland, through Germany on the day that he was supposed to report to prison in Chicago.

Kovacik called himself a “political prisoner” when investigators questioned him after his arrest last month at an arrival gate at Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport, according to the deputy’s affidavit.

WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 06: Protesters gather on the second day of pro-Trump events fueled by President Donald Trump’s continued claims of election fraud in an to overturn the results before Congress finalizes them in a joint session of the 117th Co

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Inside his luggage, authorities found documents related to his asylum request, which cited a fear of political persecution, the deputy wrote. The affidavit doesn’t say whether the Irish government acted on Kovacik’s request.

An attorney who represented Kovacik in his Capitol riot case declined to comment on the new charge.

More than 1,400 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Jan. 6 attack. Several other Capitol riot defendants have become fugitives at different stages of their prosecutions.