The meanings of Tone Madison

Scott Gordon, co-founder

I’ve been processing a whole mix of feelings the past few weeks. A lot can change in 12 years, including one’s priorities and one’s stamina for writing “Madison, Wisconsin is doing Madison, Wisconsin wrong, actually” takes. (Don’t get me wrong—if any of those takes over the years upset you, I’m still not sorry. In fact, my biggest regret is that we weren’t able to annoy you more or somehow ignore your band harder.) Of course I’m sad to see Tone Madison fold, and at times it feels like the tendencies we wanted to counter in local media are just as entrenched as they ever were. 

This publication was always rooted in a deeply oppositional, contrarian streak. Outside the tent pissing in. Why would you even want the people inside the tent to like you? Gross. But that alone would not have been enough to keep the whole thing going all this time. So many different people had to actually follow through. The archive we leave behind represents tens of thousands of hours of reporting, writing, editing, planning, discussing, arguing, (often over-)thinking, listening. On a certain level I would rather just let it speak for itself. I’m grateful for all the freelance contributors, fellow staff members, and reader-donors who made it possible. 

I still believe Madison badly needs more media voices who push back on the overwhelming inertia of establishment narratives. It feels like trying to move a mountain with toy bulldozers. I’m still proud that we stuck to some very basic premises through and through. What the cops and the chamber of commerce say is not an authoritative or even reasonable baseline for our political discourse. The priorities of major venues and marketing campaigns is not an authoritative or even reasonable baseline for our cultural discussion. This seems so basic. And yet.

What I will miss most (really, have missed most since stepping back in 2025) is editing such a wide variety of writers. Tone Madison‘s contributors were all over the map, from seasoned career journalists to truly first-time writers. What they all had in common was a willingness to take feedback, to revise and refine, to question their own assumptions, to go back and do additional research and double-checking, to try new things and develop new skills. Our contributors wholeheartedly embraced the editing process, even though it can often be a complete pain in the ass from a writer’s perspective. I’m proud that we helped people grow as writers and reporters. In turn, each of them brought different voices and perspectives to the table. Each of them helped to redefine Tone Madison for the better. 

Christina Lieffring, Managing Editor

After years at other news outlets, a weight was lifted off my shoulders when I started writing and editing for Tone Madison. For years I had been fighting upstream to publish the kinds of stories that I thought were important—that dove deep into a topic, didn’t play it safe, and openly questioned accepted narratives. At Tone, that was not only allowed, it was celebrated. I even got to—god forbid—analyze everything I’d learned over the years and express an opinion or two. We could be deliberately strange, sincere, scathing, but always aimed for substantial. In other words, deeply human. It was liberating.

Unsurprisingly, that attracted extremely smart, talented people who wanted to take on ambitious work. That is the biggest shame with losing Tone Madison. I don’t see other outlets giving writers, journalists, and artists the same freedom to explore their creativity and underserved topics and communities. Which is a shame, because Madison is overflowing with smart, talented people who just want to make things that aren’t boring or bland. Maybe that’s why I delayed the inevitable as long as I did, even when the writing was on the wall.

My hope is that everyone who shaped or was shaped by Tone came away with a broader idea of what local media can and should be. Our society is now in a moment of contraction, economic and social, where options feel limited. But that will change, eventually, if enough people fight for a more expansive, art-filled, human world. If Tone planted that seed, that vision, in any one person, or even a community, that’s a legacy worth leaving.

Steven Spoerl, former Music Editor

In 2016, Tone Madison co-founder and ex-publisher Scott Gordon published a piece about a fundraiser compilation I’d put together to mark the 1,000th post of my then-thriving DIY punk blog, Heartbreaking Bravery. A year later, the two of us met up to discuss the state of journalism. By the end of that conversation, I’d agreed to start contributing to Tone Madison. First as a freelancer, authoring small previews for local events. Over time, my word counts grew, and I became a sectional editor. And then, a co-owner. In a full-circle moment, I started putting together compilations for Tone Madison in my capacity as Music Editor to aid our year-end fundraising efforts.

But I think about that initial conversation often, as it pinpointed a number of severe issues contributing to journalism’s ongoing erosion. Everything from the lack of support and appreciation for arts journalism within journalism to the incessant, deranged belief that journalism must adhere to a “nonpartisan, with equal representation” stance that is wholly incompatible with modern reality. (It is both infuriating and unsurprising that many once-great news sources have been hollowed out by the same deep-pocketed Republicans who spent decades openly engineering media distrust.) Before I’d written a single word for Tone Madison, I had the assurance that the intent of the publication lined up with what I wanted for and within a journalism outlet.

A place that readily valued artists, and was willing to commit genuine resources and scrutiny when it came to covering voices that were being overlooked. Somewhere that saw arts journalism as journalism, and not as a dispensable offshoot. And—across all sections—offered the sense that there was an identity that had actual structure and worthwhile cause. Something that could be antidotal to complacent hand-wringing often touted by j-school graduates of a certain age/generation as journalism’s “ideal.” Tone Madison ticked all of those boxes.

Bolstering community was an anchoring point for Tone Madison‘s coverage, and I firmly believe that to be a core tenet of effective journalism. It’s certainly a goal worth more aspiration than producing spineless, non-confrontational copy that bakes in implicit exemptions for wrongdoing. (I am not joking when I say my first draft for this particular piece was on the verge of exceeding five pages, with the majority of it dedicated to covering this exact, pervasive dynamic.)

Throughout my five-and-a-half-year tenure as Tone Madison‘s Music Editor, my appreciation for the publication’s commitment to excellence and unwillingness to bend its goals or standards grew. And I came to appreciate its allowances even more deeply: nowhere else in the area is driving funding towards substantive, in-depth, cover-style reporting of local music to Tone Madison‘s degree. (Trust me, I’ve looked.) Nowhere else seems to care as much about interrogating Madison’s arts funding habits and practices. And nowhere else in the area can claim to house a freelancer pool as capable or impassioned as the arts journalists—across film, music, and visual art—that Tone Madison amassed over its run.

All of their efforts were something I genuinely valued, even in the instances where a well-intentioned piece didn’t make it to publish. Every single piece that came across my proverbial desk evidenced genuine care. Everyone who submitted anything to Tone Madison did so with an earnest desire to contribute to a greater whole, and recognized the profound respect the publication gave the arts.

All of this—from the cyclical care to unmoving, principled conviction—is not something anyone in or outside of Tone Madison‘s contributing pool or readership should take for granted. While its sun may be setting, the example imprinted in its shadow is increasingly meaningful.

I was not present for the final call on Tone Madison‘s fate, as I officially stepped down from co-ownership and my position as Music Editor with the conclusion of our 2025 music coverage. But it is my sincere hope that all of the people who were involved with Tone Madison keep finding routes to meaningfully engage with their interests, whether that be through continued writing, or other forms of tangible production.

As for me: my journey with Tone Madison started via Heartbreaking Bravery, and—after years of dormancy—I have revived the publication. In Tone Madison‘s absence, I’ll be exploring new ways to honor and contemplate some of the music coming out of Madison, and look forward to doing my level best to extend the legacy of Tone Madison‘s appreciation and respect for Madison’s artistic and cultural offerings. May that legacy prove instructive for years to come.

Grant Phipps, Arts / Film Editor

While I can’t adequately summarize my experience at Tone Madison in a few paragraphs, it’s clearly been a main outlet for all the complicated and irrepressible thoughts incessantly stirring in my head about the arts, and most specifically film and music.

Where other publications would’ve turned me away, my fellow editors embraced my idiosyncrasies and fixations. Over time, writing for Tone Madison became a primary way for me to connect with and interact with artists, programmers, and community catalyzers on a deeper level—current and former Madisonians Landen Celano, Brandon Colvin, Kelley Conway, Karen Faster, Chelsea Gaspard, Aaron Granat and Gracie Wallner, Jakob Heinemann, Meggen Heuss, Chele Isaac and Toby Kaufmann-Buhler, Siobhan Jackson, Alex T. Jacobs, Mike King, James Kreul, Luke Leavitt, Alex Lovendahl, Peter McDonald, Kyle Merckx, Alejandro “Alex” and Noel Miranda, JoAnne Powers, James Runde, Tim Russell, Josiah Wampfler, and Nicholas R. Wootton.

That sphere grew to include people from Milwaukee as well, evident in my in-depth conversations with Ben Balcom, Gabriella Cisneros, and Grace Mitchell in recent years.

And yes, it was thrilling to secure interviews with nationally or even internationally known artists like Zia Anger, Joanna Arnow, Sean Baker, Julian Castronovo, Anne Ciecko, Ricky D’Ambrose, Toby Driver, David Easteal, Mary Halvorson, Hal Hartley, Jesse Heasly and Katie McShane, Eiko Ishibashi, Amirtha Kidambi, Alex Koi, Adrian Murray, Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson, and Anna Webber.

Altogether, these dozens of dialogues continue to offer distinctive points and analyses that I don’t think you’d read in, not only another Madison publication, but another one anywhere else, period. I won’t ever forget those opportunities, wherever my pursuits take me.

Since events returned after pandemic lockdown, though, the most rewarding aspect of each week has been working with freelancers and really grasping the surfeit of insight and enthusiasm from so many who’ve come through here.

The variety of voices, present and past, who’ve contributed to the film section include Ian Adcock, Alisyn Amant, Kailee Andrews, Sara Batkie, David Boffa, Maxwell Courtright, Jason Fuhrman, Edwanike Harbour, Hanna Kohn, Reid Kurkerewicz, Chris Lay, Lance Li, John McCracken, Emily Mills, Melissa Minkoff, C Nelson-Lifson, Lewis Peterson, Jesse Raub, Mark Riechers, Daniel Seeger, Sannidhi Shukla, and former Music Editor Steven Spoerl. Each of them has taught me something in the process of working with them as an editor; whether it was a simple formatting rule or an inspiring detail that then sent me down a rabbit hole, it was a privilege to aid local writers in developing or simply spot-checking their work.

I owe the most gratitude to our former Publisher Scott Gordon, who was the reason we sustained a film section when other print and online publications caved in recent years. His patience with me and moral support meant the most, and our city is better for his contributions and commentaries (and, let’s also not forget, his amazing, though occasional, music-event organizing). And I can say the same about Managing Editor Christina Lieffring.

Our current News and Politics Editor Juan Carlos Garcia Martinez also deserves accolades for his lens on critical sociopolitical issues facing Madison and Wisconsin; one of his last articles on the Cine Cubano series at the Cardinal Bar is a spectacular example of writing that intersects with multiple communities and artistic disciplines. Lastly, I want to thank Pearl Leung, who may have never been a Madisonian, but became an integral part of the success of our year-end NewsMatch campaigns and beyond.

Oona Mackesey-Green, former Managing Editor

This is a particularly painful moment in the world to lose a critical source for local journalism. I mean “critical” in every sense of the word. In the local arts and politics stories it covered, and in the writers it supported, Tone Madison has been critical to bringing Madison closer to the kind of city that we say we want to be. In its rigorous and unapologetic approach to critiquing comfy, business-as-usual Madison politics, Tone challenged old and tired (and new and still tired) establishment narratives and changed the terms and tenor of the conversation.

Many contributors who explored and published articles at Tone Madison arrived at writing because they had a story to tell that felt urgent. This describes my own path to working with Tone. I was drawn by the opportunity to write about local issues that I cared about; and, anxious about my ability to adequately address them and my lack of formal training in journalism, I trusted the support of Tone‘s extensive and collaborative editing process and the editors’ critical eyes.

Local organizers and organizations knew that Tone was open to pitches that didn’t ask them to set aside their points of view, but saw their experience as a strength. Tone spotlighted stories of joy and pleasure and held up a bullhorn for exasperation and anger and grief.

This kind of critical journalism rooted in local communities is hard to do and harder to fund. Tone Madison committed the time, compensation, and community building to put the values that it published into practice. Thanks to the work of so many over the past 12 years, we have a history of local culture and politics that doesn’t pull punches. As we see corporate capture of small and large media alike, Tone is a reminder of what’s possible through independent, community-driven reporting. Tone Madison‘s impacts will continue through the people and the skills, experience and relationships that it supported.

Juan Carlos Garcia Martinez, News and Politics Editor

I first came across Tone Madison‘s reporting as an underclassmen at UW–Madison’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and I was immediately drawn to this publication’s distinct editorial voice and diversity of perspectives. By having its finger on the pulse of what larger newsrooms in the area were missing, Tone set itself apart as a truly community-based perspective in the ecosystem of news organizations in Madison. As a worker-owned and reader-supported publication with an outspoken commitment to progressive perspectives, I recognized in Tone all of the values which allow for truly honest and locally-minded journalism to flourish. 

When I learned that Tone was looking for someone to take on the editor role for the News and Politics section, I threw my hat in the ring and happily joined the team as an editor and worker-owner in mid-2025. The capacity for community-based journalism to uplift underrepresented perspectives will always remain one of my passions, and I’m glad to have been able to pursue this by working with the Tone Madison team. I’m especially grateful for the connections I was able to make with all of the talented writers, artists, changemakers, and more who I was able to speak with during my time as News and Politics Editor. Whether it was through sharing dialogue in an interview or collaborating behind the scenes to make a Tone story happen, I’m immensely grateful for everything I have learned throughout this experience.

Tone Madison closing down is an immense loss for Madison and for local journalism in the area, but the publication’s legacy of achievement is absolutely something to celebrate. Although this platform won’t be around to continue covering Madison as it has for the last 12 years, the perspectives that Tone has helped to uplift, the voices of our neighbors and communities, are as present as ever. Hopefully, Tone Madison‘s coverage can stand as a blueprint for how independent journalism can proceed in less tumultuous times.