Brian, I was wondering about the camera we keep seeing pop up at press conferences in Madison and Milwaukee from a guy saying he's from something called the "MacIver News Service." It's no secret (any more than it is that One Wisconsin Now has a liberal viewpoint) that the MacIver Institute has a conservative public policy agenda. I know he's an ex-reporter from the tee vee, but MacIver's not trying to call what it's doing journalism, is it?

Actually, Scot, you are more than wondering, you are panicked. As evidenced by your DefCon 1 warning you issued last week on your Web site. For some reason, you believe Wisconsin would be better off if we only talked at each other, not with each other. Fortunately, your cry for jihad has few followers. Public servants like Sen. Russ Feingold who readily answered our reporter's questions, and local leaders like state Sen. Lena Taylor, who invited us to interview her in her home, are not afraid to comment publicly on the important issues of the day.

Again, I guess back to my question: are you honestly trying to call what MacIver is doing journalism? I think open dialogue and discussion is critical, unlike, for instance, the teabaggers screaming lunacy at elected officials the past year, such as "Keep the government out of my Medicare!" and that the president isn't an American citizen. But, no, I don't see why progressives would want to assist any organization, yours or WPRI or WISTAX or whatever, whose missions are to restore the same failed economic policies of George Bush that caused the nationwide economic collapse.

You have frantically sent out an alert telling people not to talk to our reporter(s) (Yes, plural, stay tuned for news of our expansion). Fortunately Democratic lawmakers like Sen. Risser, Representatives Colón, Grigsby, Sinicki and Young, and Milwaukee County Supervisors Mayo, DeBruin and Jursik as well as activists like the NAACP's Jerry Hamilton understand that our reporting on issues like the MPS debate has been fair and honest. The more eyes watching government, the better. The more opportunities elected officials have to speak to those they represent, the better. Non-profit journalism is taking off because news consumers are smart enough to look for news in a lot of places, and public officials are willing to get their message out in new ways.

Your use of the word "reporters" is as eyebrow-raising as your use of "fair and honest." You've got an agenda, and you certainly don't identify your conservative mission when you try and sandbag progressive leaders into answering your questions. Call what you do what it is: propaganda. That's fair and honest.

Sandbag? Who has been sandbagged by our reporters? No one. Because of economic challenges and changes in the way information is consumed, the number of eyes and ears in the Capitol press corps has shrunk, and that's a bad thing for everyone. The MacIver Institute is not knocking the traditional press; we're just providing another outlet. Any press secretary worth their salt knows you look at EVERY media request as an opportunity. Like traditional newspaper outlets, we at MacIver have opinions and freely express them. At the same time, our reporters objectively report on events. People and organizations with nothing to hide have nothing to fear from our efforts. In 2009, a half million people read or watched our reports; and, to date, NOBODY has disputed that our news coverage has been fair and accurate. Moving ahead, we look forward to providing more, not less, of both news and insight for our viewers and readers and we are happy that most public officials do not fear reaching out to those individuals who turn to us for information and analysis. As they say on the tee vee, stay tuned.