About
Madison’s fiercely independent voice on culture and politics.
Tone Madison is a journalist-owned, reader-supported website covering culture and politics in Madison, Wisconsin.
Since 2014, Tone Madison has provided a lively voice in a sea of bland. We’re truly a tiny publication, but our reporting and commentary make a big impact. We publish work you won’t find anywhere else, highlight the neglected corners of Madison’s cultural landscape, elevate vital viewpoints from the left, and pull off ambitious reporting projects.
Our city deserves journalism that meaningfully challenges the establishment narrative. It deserves arts coverage that resists the tide of promotional fluff and digs deep into music, film, visual art, literature, video games, and more. We focus all our effort and resources on meeting those needs. We champion things we love, but we also ask annoying questions and throw the occasional brick.
If you value our work, donate today. Direct funding from our readers is our main source of income, and that’s how we like it. If you’re not able to chip in financially, subscribing to our newsletter also helps us a lot—and it’s the best way to keep up with our work.
Worker-owned
n early 2023, Tone Madison officially became a worker-owned cooperative. That means this publication is owned and controlled by the core staff members named on this page, and no one else—no outside parent company, no meddling executives, no shareholders squeezing us for a return.
Our non-profit fiscal receiver, MadWorC, enables us to support our work with grants and tax-deductible donations. Previously, from 2018 to 2023, Madison-based arts nonprofit Communication served as our partner organization and fiscal receiver. Fiscal sponsors’ staff and boards are not involved in Tone Madison‘s editorial decision-making.
Editorial independence
We serve our readers. Not the business community, not civic leaders, not even our favorite bands. Read more in our editorial independence policy.
Sponsorships
Sponsorships from businesses and organizations also provide revenue for Tone Madison. Sponsor displays on our website are clearly delineated and not disguised as stories. Sponsors may choose to underwrite a particular story or project, but we do not run “branded” or “native” content. Sponsors do not purchase influence over our editorial decisions.
If your business or organization is interested in reaching a great audience and supporting independent media, head to our Sponsorship page to get more information and request a media kit.
Other disclosures and ethics policy
Many of our contributors are artists or otherwise participate in the communities we cover. Tone Madison also hosts events involving local venues and performers. We do our best to be transparent and fair about any potential conflicts of interest. We expect all of our contributors to disclose any potential conflicts of interest, and to put the interests of our audience above all.
Awards and honors
2023
LION Local Journalism Awards: Collaboration of the Year Award (Micro/Small Revenue Tier), with Madison Minutes, for the reported series “Post-Roe family planning in Madison“
Madison Area Music Awards: Local Music Publication/Blog of the Year
Wisconsin Film Festival: Golden Badger Juror, Grant Phipps
2022
Indiegraf: Indie Capital Grant
LION-GNI Sustainability Audits and Funding program participant
Madison Area Music Awards: Local Music Publication/Blog of the Year
2021
Madison Cooperative Development Coalition: Business development grant recipient
Wisconsin Film Festival: Tone Madison’s original short documentary The Apocalypse Team selected
Staff
Managing Editor: Christina Lieffring, christina@tonemadison.com
News and Politics Editor: Juan Carlos Garcia Martinez, juancarlos@tonemadison.com
Film Editor: Grant Phipps, grant@tonemadison.com
Music Editor: Steven Spoerl, steven@tonemadison.com
Co-founder/Publisher Emeritus: Scott Gordon, scott@tonemadison.com
Contributors past and present
Luis Acosta Jr., Ian Adcock, Hannah Keziah Agustin, Alyssa Allemand, Alisyn Amant, Kailee Andrews, Rodlyn-Mae Banting, Ally Bates, Sara Batkie, Mary Dahlman Begley, Kristen Billings, Kai Brito, Dylan Brogan, Jane Burns, Nate Carlin, JT Cestkowski, Will Cioci, Trish Connelly, Maxwell Courtright, Ashlie Crooks, Jamie Dawson, Sasha Debevec-McKenney, Maggie Denman, Liz DiNovella, Rachal Duggan, Emili Earhart, Marc Eisen, Frank Emspak, Sarah Jennings Evans, Jenny Fierro, Dan Fitch, Jason Fuhrman, Sara Gabler, Jenie Gao, Andrea Gonzales-Paul, Russell Emerson Hall, Mel Hammond, Andrew Hanson, Edwanike Harbour, Sam Harrington, Jess Haven, Alice Herman, Jess Horn, Jane Houseal, Katie Hutchinson, Maija Inveiss, Bob Jacobson, Hanna Kohn, Kristian Knutsen, Neil Kraus, James Kreul, Reid Kurkerewicz, Rodney Lambright II, Emilio Leanza, Christina Lieffring, Rachel Litchman, Dayna Long, TL Luke, Rob Lundberg, Oona Mackesey-Green, Holly Marley-Henschen, Bianca Martin, Frankie Mastrangelo, John McCracken, Micaela Magel, Emily Mills, Andy Moore, Erica Motz, Andrew Mulhearn, Ben Munson, Molly Nagappala, Jill Nagler, Jeremy Nealis, C Nelson-Lifson, nipinet, Mike Noto, Lauden Nute, Caleb Oakley, Elizabeth Marie Lang Oreamuno, Neal Patten, Michael Penn II, Lewis Peterson, Grant Phipps, Chali Pittman, Adam Powell, Jesse Raub, Kay Reynolds, Katie Richards, Ashley Rodriguez, Catie Rutledge, Kailea Saplan, Mia Sato, Sami Schalk, Phoebe Schlough, Daniel Seeger, Kavin Senapathy, Andrew Sernatinger, Joel Shanahan, Sannidhi Shukla, Shaysa Sidebottom, Steven Slack, Henry Solotaroff-Webber, Shaun Soman, Loren Sommer, Abe Sorber, Hayley Sperling, Steven Spoerl, Zack Stafford, M.Rose Sweetnam, Alan Talaga, Owen Tuohy, Francisco Velazquez, Howard Veregin, Madeline Vogt, Claire Warhus, Tom Whitcomb, Olivia Williams, Bonnie Willison, Andrew Winistorfer, Sarah Witman, David Wolinsky, Evan Woodward, Amelia Zollner
Our logo
…was created by Madison-based designer Shelby Floyd.
Legal
Bookkeeping
Common Good Bookkeeping Cooperative
Membership organizations
Tone Madison is a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News, LION Publishers, and MadWorC.
Publishing partners
Tone Madison occasionally republishes work from other outlets with their permission, or collaborates with them on jointly published projects. Publishing partners past and present include: Barn Raiser, Capitol Punishments, Grist From The Mills, Madison Minutes (now part of City Cast Madison), Our Lives, The Recombobulation Area, Wisconsin Life, Wisconsin Watch, and WORT-FM.
Feedback
We don’t have comments on our website but love to talk with our readers on Instagram, via email, and at our in-person events.
Pitching us
If you’re a writer, audio producer, videographer, photographer, or illustrator who shares our vision, send story ideas to editor@tonemadison.com, but read our pitch guidelines first. We also accept pitches for guest columns for members of the Madison community with something to say about cultural issues.
Asking us to write about your stuff
We’re choosy about what we cover, but are happy to hear from you about your project, event, band, or other thing. Send the relevant details to editor@tonemadison.com and we’ll let you know if we are interested.
Sending us tips
Seen or heard something you think we should know about? You can do that at editor@tonemadison.com as well.
Interested in sponsorship?
Sponsoring Tone Madison is a great way for your business or organization to enrich the Madison community and get your message out to a smart, engaged local audience. Head to our sponsorship info page for more information and our media kit.