The Green Bay Press-Gazette did not tell its readers about Democratic Party-aligned contributions made by the complainant it quoted against Rep. Tony Wied.
The Green Bay Press-Gazette article in question: https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/news/politics/2025/03/11/rep-tony-wieds-town-hall-talking-social-security-and-doge-draws-criticism-over-format/76197851007/
From June through October 2024, the complainant named in this article about Tony Wied’s Tele-Town Hall gave $450 to Kamala Harris’ campaign and $255 to ActBlue, a political action committee affiliated with the Democratic Party: https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=Marley+Fieweger&two_year_transaction_period=2024
It is entirely possible that the information from the Federal Election Commission website is wrong. Evidence that both parties have benefited from criminal operations is described in a previous post, https://doorcounty.substack.com/p/2024-allegedly-illegal-political-donations. Certain figures reported by the FEC in recent years do not hold up under scrutiny as legitimate donations. This may partly be due to identity theft.
If there is evidence is given that the FEC website is wrong, I will remove this post. But presently my assumption is that the dollar amounts are accurate.
While it is not an implausible narrative that Wied could be inexperienced about how to announce and hold conference call events, and that some of his constituents could find a conference call with him to be an unpleasant experience, an alternative explanation is that the complainant named in the article is unhappy that District 8 is presently held by a Republican instead of a Democrat.
The article also states:
The Press-Gazette received five unsolicited voicemails and emails during and after the freshman congressman's inaugural event that expressed being misled by the connotation of the words "town hall."
Were the unsolicited voicemails and emails from people having a similar political inclination as the named complainant? If so, readers could have been informed of the situation. Had it been a Democrat holding the call-in event under similar circumstances, would they have still complained to the Press-Gazette?
Just as with in-person town halls, Democrats ought to be welcome to attend conference calls held by officials belonging to the Republican Party. No less should be expected when the parties are reversed. The problem isn’t about people participating in events with elected officials that they have opposed, the problem is when newspaper writers decide not to mention the likelihood that people with a cross-party perspective will think differently about things, as opposed to non-voters or people who are already predisposed to think the same way as the elected official representing them.
Most people have never made campaign contributions to anyone, ever. During an event with an elected official, there naturally may be more people who donate participating, but wouldn’t they be more likely to support the same party as the candidate? It is an omission to open an article about Wied’s town hall with a complaint from someone who has recently donated to the opposing party without stating so.