A chapter closes

This past weekend saw the publication of my final opinion column with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

It's a bittersweet ending, to be sure. I'm ready to move on to new and different kinds of writing (having an Opinion on a weekly schedule can get to be a little exhausting), but I also recognize that their decision to end the section entirely is sadly indicative of larger problems and challenges facing newsrooms across the country.

The MJS was locally owned for decades before Gannett (which owns USA Today and 14 other papers in Wisconsin) bought it out in 2016. There have been several rounds of layoffs and budget cuts over time, as old school attitudes toward the news business have become increasingly obsolete - but the people with power over them continue to make poor and/or desperate decisions that see deep cuts being made to substantive local reporting and dedicated, knowledgeable reporting staffs.

Fewer people are being made to do more with less. More wire stories run, creating duplication between newspapers and gutting any real local connection (or reason for people to subscribe to/read something that's ostensibly locally printed because all they see in it are national wire stories and, too often, forcibly syndicated op-eds and editorials that reflect the corporate and political interests of the owners, not the actual staff).

I've had the privilege and pleasure of working with truly supportive and hardworking editors during my time with the MJS. They never once tried to influence my choice of topic or opinion, only offering light copy editing and fact-checking as needed. They and many other reporters at the MJS do truly great work with very little support. I honestly hope the pivot toward "solutions-based journalism" reaps rewards both in terms of community engagement and financial sustainability - but I also recognize that it's an increasingly uphill battle for the latter in particular.

I don't have the answer yet for how to make quality news reporting a sustainable endeavor again. I've been part of a start-up non-profit media outlet that attempted a grassroots approach to the problem, and we managed for about 8 years before throwing in the towel. It was an eye-opening experience. Lots of well-meaning liberal/progressive people and organizations assured us that by becoming a non-profit we would reap financial support from sympathetic sources, but we quickly learned that 1) most of the money is on the other side, and 2) the money that is ostensibly on the side of progressive causes is tightly held and often narrowly applied to groups/people working on issues near and dear to the already well-off. Surprise!

Anyway, before this becomes an even more unwieldy post, I mostly just wanted to say that, despite all of the examples of really nasty feedback I received during my time writing for the MJS, I got at least as much in the way of positive and supportive emails and personal comments from folks all across Wisconsin.

I learned about folks living in far-flung rural communities and other medium and large cities about their experiences and frustrations trying to do the right thing for the greater good in the midst of such a divided and often vitriolic public discourse.

We remain a very purple state, in point of fact.

As far as I could tell, however, the vast majority of the feedback I got came from folks in their middle age and up. I think that's telling about the struggle news outlets like the MJS have to remain relevant to younger people - who, despite what some pearl-clutching pundits might have you believe, are by and large incredibly engaged in their communities and driven to do good work to build a better world. They are, in my experience, light years ahead of us in several key areas. I have hope.

Part of that hope includes eventually figuring out newer and better ways of sharing information and ideas, and collaborating on work that lifts us all. That will mean some things many of us have always known or grown used to will have to come to an end, and that can be scary/painful. But we have to learn how to let go of certain things in order to make space for new life to grow and flourish. Let Millenials kill Hooters and diamonds and even consumerism. Let new generations cast off old institutions that reinforce gatekeeping by one narrow demographic, and embrace a messier, more diverse, more inclusive public sphere. Let's use our big ol' brains to figure out new and different ways to support one another.

Some things must burn, so that greener shoots may grow in their place. We just have to make sure the outgoing regime doesn't fully poison the ground behind it.

Mail Call #15: Wrong, and Racist!

Hello hello! A whole bunch of kids and teachers were murdered in their school recently, and the national conversation has once again turned to What Can We Do? I wrote about it. I fully expected to get some...interesting...responses, and boy did I.

Today, I'd like to focus on one in particular that feels fairly representative of a particular genre of political and social thought that is still all-too prevalent in America. It's based in false premises, racism, sexism, and a sort of peculiar fatalism inherent in so much of the unwillingness to really face the core issues that lead to things like mass shootings.

Anyway, here's the email, annotated!

It struck me that the terrified students prayed when in danger. Remember praying isn't allowed in public schools.

OK I'mma stop you right there: This is a lie. Anyone can still pray in public schools. It simply cannot be an organized/school-sanctioned event, because, you know, for now we still live in a country with separation of church and state, and there are kids from all different religious and non-religious backgrounds in these schools, so prioritizing one flavor of religion over another would be pretty shitty and exclusionary. Also, you don't know how those kids reacted. Some probably prayed, sure. But you don't get to make a blanket statement like that.

And there you have insight into the core cause of our social problems. The Democrats/politicians always want to solve every thing with legislation. That's fine do it. Hasn't stopped the drugs. Burn the NRA down. Fine wont stop the guns.

This is that fatalism I was talking about. Strange, coming from the folks who are usually so hardcore law-and-order, this "why do we bother passing laws at all they don't work" POV. Why anything, indeed?

Our problems are behavioral. Our society is now subject to mass shootings, massive drug usage, road rage, hit and runs, adultery, perversion, abortion, hate speech, scammers, homeless, rapists, bullying, weak soft kids (USA Olympic kids showed that) and more, at unprecedented levels we have ever seen and it's growing and will get worse.

OK now you're gonna shit on the young Olympic athletes? What the hell, man? Many of them kicked ass in their competitions, and I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that they've worked harder at this one thing than dear letter writer has at much of anything in his life. What a weird thing to harp on. The rest of his list is pretty standard, alas.

As we have tried to remove God from our culture, broken up the family, have kids who have grown up without even knowing who their father is, minimized responsibility, ignored marriage, shunned religion, and mongralized our cities, what are you going end up with. A society and culture of the above paragraph.

"Mongralized." Gee, what on Earth could he be dog whistling here, I wonder?

This has been a slow progression over many years. I am no sociologist

NO REALLY?! GET OUT. No, really, get out.

but take away the cornerstones of the family and everything that goes with it and the void will be filled by people who have lost their way. We have a very sick country right now, particularity high school kids who are under a lot of social pressure to be liked and fit in. I remember. We wanted progress, we wanted liberalization, at the expense of our core foundations, were getting it. Legislate away. Behavior is in the mind.

Ah, the old "when you're young, you're liberal - when you're older, you're conservative!" line my own aunt tried to use on me a few times. Dude, I'm sorry, but this just means you're getting more bitter and closed off in your old age. Doesn't happen to everyone, thank goodness.

A whole lotta me

Thanks to Craig Sauer for inviting me to be a guest on The Wisconsin Podcast! It's kind of rare that I get to be the one being interviewed, as opposed to the other way around, so it was great fun. You may also be unsurprised to find out that I can talk.

Topics covered ranged from my upbringing, coming out as queer, having a pastor father, writing weekly opinions for the MJS and dealing with online commentary/insults, the value and risk of social media, the hows and whys of Our Lives magazine and being an editor, roller derby, and the 2011 Wisconsin protests and state politics generally. SO MUCH STUFF.

Listen here: https://www.wispod.com/podcast-political-commentary-in-a-divisive-era-emily-mills-17/

And be sure to give his podcast the ol' subscribe!

Mail Call #12: Actually no, it's not my job

In lieu of responding to this email sender directly, I figured I'd put this out to the world in an effort to educate folks about how opinion writing can sometimes work.

Email:

Mills-
I wrote you a week ago and am still waiting for an answer. Isn't it part of your job to answer reader email or only those that pander to the liberal viewpoint?

Paul from Menomonee Falls

Thanks for asking, Paul! To answer: No, it is not part of my job to answer any or all reader emails. I am a freelance writer, therefor not employed by the Journal Sentinel. I get paid a fixed amount to write a weekly column and that's it. The time I spend responding to reader emails is all pro bono/off the clock. I don't get paid for it. I still do it, though, when people send me thoughtful questions or stories or responses - yes, even those people who disagree with me, so long as it's in a coherent way that doesn't just spend a lot of time insulting my person.

Paul's first email, it should be noted, did not fall into that category.

So there you have it, friends: Not all opinion/column writers are employed by the papers that run their work. Actually, I'd venture to guess we're freelance more often than not, these days. And we don't get paid to spend time responding to all of the vitriol that finds it's way into our inboxes. You wanna throw me a few bucks to do it, though? Feel free.

Mail Call #8: Men would like me to think about Bill Clinton

Catching up with emails in response to my recent article about Trump and rape culture. SO MANY men, all saying the exact same damn thing, like broken, paternalistic mandroids:

Emily not once did you mention Bill Clinton in your article? Something to think about.

...

I was reading your column in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel regarding the treatment of woman at the hands of rich and powerful men and I notice something that was conspicuously absent. There wasn’t any mention of former president Bill Clinton.

...

Didn't see Bill Clintons name even once in your column. It's really sad that liberal journalists can bring themselves to cover an issue from both sides.

...there are a lot of people who can't tell the difference between reporters and opinion columnists, y'all.

These entries go on, and on.

Let me put this simply:

1. Bill Clinton is not currently running for president. Trump is.
2. Trump is on tape bragging about committing sexual assault.
3. Hillary Clinton is not personally responsible for any crimes her husband may have committed.

I will end on this incredibly on-point post made by a friend of a friend, because it should be the most important take away from all of this:

WE DON'T GET TO PICK WHICH VICTIMS WE BELIEVE BY WHICH CANDIDATE THEY SUPPORT

Liberal friends: you know what's not cool? Posting a link to allegations of rape against Trump and then trying to demonize Juanita Broaddrick et al for allegations against Bill Clinton. You're not forensic investigators. You're not gonna blow holes in decades-old rape cases, and you damn well shouldn't be trying.

Conservative friends: you know what's not cool? Defending Trump's harassment and rape and misogyny by pointing out someone else did those things, too. That doesn't make it ok! Two people doing rape just means both people are horrible! Also unfair: making Hillary culpable for all of her husband's sins. She certainly has things to answer for, but she didn't rape anybody. Keep that in mind, please.

Oh, are there inconsistencies in someone's story? Yeah, I bet if you ask me about my rape you'll find inconsistencies in mine; it was years ago and, you know, traumatic. Do these accusers have something to gain? Maybe, but I can tell you as a fact that they probably suffer a lot more than they gain by making up stories like this; look at the way all these women have been dragged through the mud for decades. Rape has a false reporting rate of about 4%, just like most other crimes. While it's possible these stories are made up, it's very very very likely that they are not, especially when so many women have come forward.

Listen up, y'all: WE DON'T GET TO PICK WHICH VICTIMS WE BELIEVE BY WHICH CANDIDATE THEY SUPPORT. If you want justice for rape victims (and you damn well better) then you need to accept that even someone you support might be a horrible person, even if this fact makes your decision making suddenly very morally fraught and messy.

So if you are outraged about Trump or Bill Clinton, that's good! It's good to be outraged about people who molest, demean, assault, and otherwise abuse others. But don't act like your opponent's accusers are all telling the truth while the ones accusing your team are all liars. Every victim deserves justice.

Mail Call #3: Votes for No One I Dislike

I wrote about how Voter ID disenfranchises people. As usual, folks got angry:

You are the most in competent IDIOT liberal of them all!If one does not have the Brains or minimal effort to get a voter ID they DO NOT have the right to Vote!You and the other Liberal,America haters want to vote for them!Trump will Win and America will put you and others like you back in the septic tank you crawled out of!

Trump will put us all back into the septic tank. Now that's comforting. Do folks listen to themselves when they write this shit?

And a two-fer for you today:

You liberals always have something to cry about. What is wrong about having an ID to vote. If voter fraud is unheard of as you claim why worry about it. The reason you guys are so upset is because you are worried. there is something to the lefty cliche "Make sure you vote and vote often". You guys have to gather up people from cemeteries, prisons and people with dementia from nursing homes to cast a vote. The rest are young people who are still wet behind the ears and easy to deceive. This leaves a balance of people who votes are bought . The group that wants more free this and free that. You cater to minorities like Blacks and Latino's and promise them anything as long as they vote for the Democrats. That leaves the rest of us who labor hard and are the ones Liberals to pay all these freebies, and we just want to make sure you don't pull the wool over ours eyes. Conservatives are harder to fool than the liberals Some day the liberal base might wise up but I doubt it, at least as long as you are running the schools and universities, where you shout down any opposing views and spread lie upon lie.

Lots of unfounded and actively disproved dog whistling in this one.

Mail Call #2: "Your small problem"

This one is just plain difficult to parse, but came in response to one of my articles in support of equal/safe/fair access to bathroom facilities for transgender folks.

I swear, some people's children:

I was only a young boy when I realized I wanted to get the ole snip snip. Not until recent times have I been able to muster enough mental and physical strength to cut through my 14 inch fire hose. After all is said and done I love being a born again woman, but have to say I disagree with your article on transgender bathroom rights. If I'm a boy I should use the boys bathroom and if I'm a girl I should use the girls bathroom. I don't want any degenerates or sickos in my bathroom while I'm trying to peacefully do my business. All in all I think you're plain wrong so please quit your job because it's not that big of a deal and I'm sorry you look like a man but don't take it out on the anti transgender people because your problem can be easily solved.

Please stop lashing out about your small problem and find something else to do, thank you.

Really hitting a lot of the finer points here:

• Weirdly disjointed commentary on his own gender identity, alleged penis size (natch) 
• Transphobia! Transmisogyny!
• Nice little attempted jab about me "looking like a man" (I look like me, no apologies needed)
• Urging me to "quit my job" (this column writing business is freelance but you'd be amazed how many people seem to think I'm employed full time by MJS) because his opinion differs
• Belittling of what is a very real, very serious issue for a lot of folks by calling it a "small problem"

Sadly, this email is pretty representative of the super hateful, misguided, fearful, gross commentary I've received every time I write about transgender rights. I've hesitated to post any of it, frankly, because lord knows my trans friends don't need more of this disgusting vitriol in their lives, but I also want to show everyone else exactly the kind of hurtful shit trans people have to deal with all the time. It shouldn't be up to them to shut it down, either - that's the role of us, the allies.

So speak the fuck up whenever and wherever you hear anything remotely like this being spewed. Point out why it's wrong, why it's hurtful, why it matters - how much easier it is just to be decent to one another. Dollars to donuts the email writer above could have used a lot more of said decency in their life, too, to have steered them away from the clearly confused, ignorant, and fearful place they're in now.

Take care of each other.

Mail Call #1

So I've had the honor of contributing an opinion column to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for the past couple of years. They let me wax philosophic about any topic that tickles my fancy, and it's been a great opportunity to both expand my own knowledge and understanding of a wide variety of issues, but also to receive feedback from all across the state.

I have a separate email account set up specifically to take that reader feedback, in fact, because sometimes it's important for mental sanity to have things sectioned off a little. I've been more than pleasantly surprised to find that a good 50% of the responses I get are actually positive/supportive, and come from a wide range of people from all across Wisconsin. Of the negative/opposing feedback, too, I'm very grateful that some folks take the time to offer it constructively and seem to genuinely want to have a discussion.

There's about 20-30% of the feedback, though, that occupies its own, let's say "special" place. I've been sharing some of the greatest (see: weirdest, most out there) hits on my Facebook page for awhile, and more than a few people have no urged me to turn it into a regular archive. That brings us here. I consider this somewhat cathartic for me, honestly, because sometimes I just don't know what drives people to take time out of their days to send such ridiculous and hateful (and often wildly misplaced) bile. I have to believe that, if we met in person, we could probably find at least one thing in common and get past all this (if not ultimately agree on everything) divisiveness. But I also know that some folks are just hell bent on being nasty and feeling righteous.

These are their stories. No names/identifying information included. Enjoy?

Feb. 28, 2016 - in re: my column "Partisan Politics and the Courts"

What in God's name makes you think you know so damn much? And that only liberal thinking is hones,fair and just thinking? And that any one even slightly left of you and Madison is wrong, selfish, uncaring,self-serving -etc. well you get the point? Was is your public schooling? Your college profs? your parents? your friends-assuming you had any? Jesus woman -you haven't even been around long enuf to put you bra and undies on right -where did you get the fucking idea that you can tell educated, charity giving, job creating, church going people the kind of shit you spill every week? Was it some poor fuck at the newspaper? Well we know ho well that is going don't we? That's why so many people quit buying it. Have fun now with this bilge because I would predict it won't last long for you.
You a a fucking little twit with a large opinionated ,not quite mature, narrow minded mouth. Here's an idea-try gay parade and party planning. [sic]

(note to that final suggestion: done and done!)