The next chapter for The Recombobulation Area

An update from Founding Editor Dan Shafer.

The Recombobulation Area is a 19-time 21-TIME! Milwaukee Press Club award-winning opinion column and online publication founded by Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer.

Readers, listeners, viewers and loyal subscribers, I have some news to share with you.

The Recombobulation Area has been part of Civic Media since August 2024. We’ve worked together covering elections and political news from around Wisconsin, and I’ve joined and contributed to an endless number of radio shows and podcasts and livestreams over the last couple years.

But all things must pass, and as of today, The Recombobulation Area’s arrangement with Civic Media is coming to an end.

The Recombobulation Area is returning to its roots as an independent, reader-funded publication and small business. We will continue to cover the discombobulating politics of Milwaukee and Wisconsin through commentary, analysis, original reporting, live social media coverage, in-person events, podcasting, and more — just as we have for the last seven years.

As we make this transition, I want to be clear about two things: 1) This was my decision, and 2) This is an amicable parting of the ways between our two media outlets.

Throughout this agreement with Civic Media, The Recombobulation Area has operated with editorial independence, and we have had the opportunity to continue to cover news and politics the way we always have with the support of a larger network — and we’ve been grateful for that independence and support.

However, given that Civic Media has undergone significant changes over the last several months, I have determined that this arrangement is no longer the best fit for The Recombobulation Area going forward. So now, I am re-acquiring The Recombobulation Area. As of tomorrow, July 3, 2026, full ownership of this publication will officially return to The Recombobulation Area LLC.

I want to thank Civic Media CEO Sage Weil for his belief in and support of this publication. I also want to express my gratitude to the readers, listeners and viewers from across the Civic Media network, and to colleagues past and present at the organization. I’m so lucky to have had the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people through this partnership.

As for the work we’re doing here and now, as you may have noticed, activity here at The Recombobulation Area has picked up lately. That’s been my decision, too. Following some personnel and directional changes at Civic Media over the last several months, I wanted to focus more of my time and attention on the publication I founded in 2019. That meant stepping away from day-to-day operations at the larger organization, and changing my title from “Political Editor” to “Contributing Editor” in February. This shift in focus is producing results at The Recombobulation Area, as the publication has just hit an all-time high in total subscribers, with high-quality journalism that continues to make a real impact on politics in Wisconsin.

At a certain point, though, it became clear that if my focus was going to be on The Recombobulation Area, the best way to do that would be as an independent publication and small business, the way it was operating before this agreement with Civic Media.

So, in the short term, because that change in focus has already been unfolding, you should expect little about our coverage to change. In the immediate future, for example, I will be continuing to write and podcast about the absolutely fascinating big-stakes Democratic primary in the race for governor, with a perspective, analysis and reporting you’ll find nowhere else in Wisconsin’s political media landscape. There will be fundraising reports, a Marquette poll and debate happening before the Aug. 11 primary election day, and you better believe I’ll be covering all of it. Plus: I’ll be joining former WisDems chair Ben Wikler in Eau Claire on Sunday, July 26, for a live conversation and event as part of his upcoming book tour.

But in the long term, I will be exploring a number of different options for the future of The Recombobulation Area. I’ve already been having some of those conversations, and am excited and encouraged about what the future could have in store for our scrappy little publication. And along the way, I hope to find some time to step away for a bit and do some recombobulating of my own.

For now, if you are a subscriber to this publication, the only change you’ll experience is that your monthly or yearly subscriptions will go to support The Recombobulation Area LLC instead of to Civic Media — just as it was once we formed the LLC in 2022, and similar to when we first launched the publication in 2019.

If you are interested in supporting our work, you can subscribe here. Our rates still remain the same as they did in 2019 — $5 per month, and $50 per year.

Since the very beginning at The Recombobulation Area, we have made it a priority not only to bring you high-quality, award-winning journalism, but to build community. It’s because of that community, both online and in person, that we’ve been able to grow and thrive over the past seven years, and it’s because of that community — it’s because of you — that we’re able to take this next step, too.

We’re turning the page, but our story continues. Let’s keep recombobulating, folks.

All the best,
Dan Shafer, Founding Editor of The Recombobulation Area

P.S.: Please send any press releases to therecombobulationarea@gmail.com.

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Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. In 2024, he and the publication joined Civic Media, where he is currently a Contributing Editor. He’s written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 24 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.

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Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer, at BlueSky at @danshafer.bsky.social, and on Threads at @danshafer.