Statement on the Lafayette County Official Newspaper Designation

Letter to the Editor — Submitted to the Republican Journal
A formal correction request submitted to editor Adam Krebs at the Republican Journal following publication of Mr. Timmerman’s July 23, 2026 article.

To the Editor:

On July 23, 2026, the Republican Journal published an article by David Timmerman alleging a conflict of interest in my vote on Lafayette County’s official newspaper designation. The article contains false factual claims serious enough to require correction — each one contradicted by this publication’s own prior reporting or by materials provided before publication, and each one pointing in the same direction.

Mr. Timmerman’s July 23 article describes the Pecatonica Valley Leader website as being “in the process of building” at the time of the board vote. His own May 28 article in this publication quoted Pecatonica Valley Leader Editor Kayla Barnes describing the same website as “recently launched” — past tense, already live. Those are not different interpretations of the same moment. They are incompatible accounts of it. The completed launch was publicly announced and independently verifiable before the vote: announced by Geek Powered on Facebook and LinkedIn on April 21, and covered by the Pecatonica Valley Leader in its own published article on May 7 — all of which was provided to Mr. Timmerman before this article was filed. In summarizing my response, he wrote that I cited disclosure “by the newspaper with a story in May.” I provided a specific date: May 7 — twelve days before the vote. That date did not appear in print. “In May” did. Each of these choices — “in the process of building,” “a story in May” — compresses and obscures a timeline that, stated accurately with the information already in hand, does not support the article’s framing.

From there, the article asserts that without my vote, the result would have been an 8-8 tie — making my participation decisive. His own May 28 article documented the amendment vote as 9-7. Sixteen minus one is fifteen — an odd number that cannot produce a tie under any circumstances. Even in the scenario his article constructs, the math fails: remove my participation and the amendment still passes 8-7, the full board resolution still passes 9-6. His own May 28 headline named Board Chair Sauer — not me — as the one who “cast the decisive vote.”

These are not errors that require outside investigation to identify. They are verifiable against the Republican Journal’s own archive and the materials submitted directly for comment. Each one cuts in the same direction — toward a conclusion that was reached before the facts were checked. The arithmetic was elementary. The contradiction was in his own prior reporting. The date was in the materials he received. A reporter following the facts finds all of that. What this article reflects is a reporter who had already decided where he was going.

Readers are entitled to evaluate this reporting with the full context of who wrote it and what interests were involved. Mr. Timmerman is the editor of the Grant County Herald Independent and a contributor to the Republican Journal through Morris Media of Wisconsin — the publisher whose newspaper lost the official newspaper designation at issue. His July 23 article closes by noting that under the county code of ethics, any complaint on a possible violation must be filed within six months of the alleged incident. Morris Media has a direct financial interest in that outcome. That context belongs in the article. It was omitted.

My decisions are fair game for scrutiny. What I did not expect was to defend a documented timeline and simple arithmetic — contradicted by this publication’s own prior reporting — with no column, no press release, and no platform to respond in kind. A newspaper has a megaphone. I have this statement. Inaccurate reporting follows people in a small community. It does not correct itself. Only the publication that created it can make it right.

The full record, including the complete timeline and my on-the-record correspondence with Mr. Timmerman, is available at:
https://joeforargyle.com/statement-on-the-lafayette-county-official-newspaper-designation/

Joe Schutte
Lafayette County Board Supervisor – District 9
Owner, Geek Powered of WI, LLC

Update — July 27, 2026: Follow-Up Correspondence
Having received no response acknowledging the July 23 correction request, Joe Schutte sent the following follow-up to the Republican Journal on July 27, 2026.

From: Joe Schutte <joe@geekpowered.com>
Date: Monday, July 27, 2026 at 13:48
To: editor@myrjonline.com <editor@myrjonline.com>
Cc: publisher@myrjonline.com <publisher@myrjonline.com>
Subject: Re: Correction Request — “Supervisor’s firm hired by newspaper prior to official publication vote”

Adam & John,

I am following up on my correction request sent Thursday morning regarding the July 23 article, “Supervisor’s firm hired by newspaper prior to official publication vote.” As of today, I have not received a response acknowledging my request or indicating whether the Republican Journal intends to publish a correction.

Because the next print edition is Thursday, July 30, I would appreciate knowing whether a correction will be published.

My request is straightforward. I am asking the Republican Journal to correct factual statements that are demonstrably false or materially misleading when compared against its own prior reporting, the public record, and the materials provided to Mr. Timmerman before publication. These include the mathematically impossible premise that my participation was decisive, the contradictory reporting regarding the status of the Pecatonica Valley Leader website, and the omission of the specific May 7 public disclosure date that was provided in my response.

I disagree with the premise that I had a conflict of interest, and I believe the facts and timeline demonstrate that I did not. Nevertheless, whether my conduct created an apparent conflict or warranted further scrutiny is a matter the public is free to debate, and one the Republican Journal is free to report on.

What concerns me is not that the question was asked. It is that the question was framed using factual assertions that are demonstrably false and readily verifiable against the Republican Journal’s own prior reporting, the public record, and the materials provided before publication. Responsible journalism requires accurately reporting the facts and allowing readers to draw their own conclusions—not creating or altering facts to support a predetermined narrative.

That responsibility is even greater where the publisher has a direct financial interest in the subject matter being reported. Morris Media stood to benefit financially if the County Board’s decision were reversed through the restoration of its official newspaper designation and the accompanying legal notice revenue. That makes it all the more important that reporting on this issue be accurate, complete, and internally consistent.

If the Republican Journal does not intend to publish a correction, I would appreciate knowing that as well so I can determine my next course of action.

Because the next print edition is Thursday, I would appreciate your response by the close of business on Tuesday when your paper goes to print.

Thank you,

Joe Schutte

Update — July 30, 2026: Republican Journal Issues Limited Correction
The Republican Journal has published a correction addressing one of the three factual errors identified in the July 27 correction request. The other two remain uncorrected.

The Republican Journal has issued a correction acknowledging that the vote total reported in the July 23 article was wrong. The correction states that if I had recused myself from the amendment vote, the result would have been 8-7, not the 8-8 tie originally reported — confirming what this statement already established: the amendment to give the Pecatonica Valley Leader a clear up-or-down vote would have passed regardless of my participation.

The correction goes on to note that because I made the motion, another supervisor would have had to bring it forward, since the committee’s original recommendation named the Republican Journal as the official newspaper. That framing does not change the underlying fact the correction itself confirms: the outcome was not decided by my vote. Sixteen supervisors were present. Any one of the eight who ultimately voted for the amendment could have made the same motion. Noting that someone would have had to make it is not evidence that it had to be me, and it does not restore the conflict-of-interest premise the correction just retracted.

The correction addresses only the math. It does not address the other two factual errors identified in my July 27 request: the contradiction between the paper’s own May 28 reporting (“recently launched”) and its July 23 reporting (“in the process of building”) describing the same website, or the omission of the specific May 7 disclosure date I provided on the record. Those corrections have not been made.

The correction also notes that the Republican Journal is still waiting on an open records request, filed May 20, for county board emails related to the official newspaper designation discussion between February 1 and May 22 — and that as of this week, the county’s IT office has not yet provided the requested records. I have no objection to that request being fulfilled. Nothing in the public record, this statement, or my correspondence with Mr. Timmerman depends on records not yet produced. The timeline, the payment dates, and the vote totals are already documented above and are not in dispute.