Daniel Bice
Starting in June, the New York Post began publishing a number of stories on the presidential, Senate and congressional races in Wisconsin as part of an initiative on battleground states. .
But the Post — a right-leaning newspaper owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch — picked a reporter for the project with strong ties to Republicans and conservatives in Wisconsin.
In fact, Amy Sikma was paid twice last year by the state Republican Party for consulting work. She was also a campaign consultant for former Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly's 2023 campaign, previously ran a primary contest for a GOP candidate and worked for an organization that opposes same-sex marriage.
Neither her profile on the Post website nor her stories disclose any of these ties to readers.
The result: Sikma has published a series of stories criticizing presidential candidate Kamala Harris, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, former U.S. Rep. Peter Barca and congressional candidate Rebecca Cooke — all Democrats.
In fact, it appears that one of her stories critical of Baldwin was investigated and dropped by another Post reporter earlier in the year — only to be revived and published by Sikma. The story has been widely touted by Baldwin's opponent, Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde.
So is it a conflict of interest for Sikma to accept consulting fees from the state Republican Party and then write news stories beneficial to Republican candidates?
Reached last week, Sikma rejected the premise of the question.
"Well, I'm writing stories for the benefit of readers," she said before referring questions to her editor, Kelly Jane Torrance. Torrance did not answer a series of questions about Sikma's coverage of Wisconsin.
It is not unusual for partisan or political websites, such as the MacIver Institute on the right and the Wisconsin Examiner on the left, to write stories that cater to one side of the political spectrum. Those websites are usually funded via politically oriented nonprofits, such as the conservative Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation or the liberal Joyce Foundation.
The Post is a for-profit daily tabloid newspaper that regularly breaks news stories.
The code of ethics for the Society of Professional Journalists urges reporters to "avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived" and to disclose all unavoidable conflicts. Furthermore, the code tells reporters to steer clear of "political and other outside activities that may compromise integrity or impartiality, or may damage credibility."
Kathleen Culver, director of the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said it is rare for political operatives or issue advocates to become news reporters. One exception is George Stephanopoulos, the former communications director for President Bill Clinton who now has a prominent job with ABC News.
But Culver said the question regarding Sikma is whether she can set aside her past partisan views and write fair stories on Wisconsin's political campaigns.
"As a news consumer myself, I’m questioning whether the New York Post’s reporting is fairly covering races in our critical swing state," Culver said. "That’s not a question for this staffer alone but for the overall content and tenor of the material the Post is putting out."
David Pritchard, a retired UW-Milwaukee journalism professor, was even harsher in his criticism of the Post, saying the tabloid doesn't aspire to balance or objectivity. He said most of its New York readers don't care about the various races in Wisconsin. Rather, the Post is using its website to produce stories that can be used in TV ads by Republican candidates here.
In terms of Sikma's stories, Pritchard said: "They seem to be — how do I put this? — perfectly competent reports of right-wing talking points."
Records show that Sikma was paid a total of $2,500 in consulting fees by the state GOP in March and April 2023. She also received $4,200 for campaign consulting work for Kelly, a conservative candidate who lost to now-state Supreme Court Janet Protasiewicz, a liberal.
Sikma also said on her LinkedIn page that she was the campaign manager for Jennifer Meinhardt, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for the state Assembly in 2021.
In one of her first jobs, Sikma was a research writer for Wisconsin Family Action, a conservative Christian group led by activist Julaine Appling, who helped lead the effort in 2006 to pass a constitutional amendment in Wisconsin banning same-sex marriage and civil unions. In 2014, a federal judge overturned the ban.
Appling pushed back on Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson in 2022 when it appeared that he might vote for Baldwin's Respect for Marriage Act, a federal measure to codify same-sex marriage. The bill did pass, but Johnson ended up opposing it.
It was while working at Wisconsin Family Action that Sikma met her husband, conservative activist and lobbyist Brian Sikma, who previously served on the board of Wisconsin Family Action and the affiliated Wisconsin Family Council.
It is not clear if Amy Sikma has any journalism background. She has authored pieces on partisan websites urging people to vote for a particular Republican candidate.
Since joining the New York Post, she has written a number of stories critical of Democrats.
Earlier this month, she did a piece accusing Barca, a former Democratic congressman, of lying about Republican Rep. Bryan Steil's positions in abortion and in vitro fertilization. The two are opposing one another in the 1st Congressional District.
Last month, Sikma wrote that Cooke was involved in a "shady deal" for going to work as a waitress at a restaurant that received a $2,000 startup grant from Cooke's nonprofit, Red Letter Grant. Cooke is challenging Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden in the 3rd Congressional District.
Another one of her pieces denounced Baldwin and Harris for their "soft on immigration" records.
"The border crisis has emerged as a top concern for voters in Wisconsin — as the critical battleground state gears up for one of the most competitive U.S. Senate races on top of a historic presidential election in November," Sikma wrote.
Immigration/border security is the second biggest issue among Wisconsin Republicans, according to the most recent Marquette Law School Poll. But it was the fifth most important matter for independents, and 0% of Wisconsin Democrats respondents picked the subject as being this campaign's main concern.
Sikma also wrote a complicated piece on how Baldwin may have a conflict of interest with her partner Maria Brisbane because the senator has worked to secure funding for biotech companies and Brisbane previously managed a "biotechnology mutual fund" as a private wealth manager for Merrill Lynch. Brisbane now works for Morgan Stanley.
Senate rules do not require Baldwin to disclose her partner's assets because they are not married.
Sources say another Post reporter, Josh Christenson, had looked into the same issues on Baldwin and Brisbane in March. He never wrote a story. Five months later, Sikma's news article on the same issue was published.
Christenson did not respond to an email seeking an explanation.
Pritchard, the former UWM journalism professor, said it's perfectly legal for the New York Post to consistently publish stories on Wisconsin politics that benefit Republican candidates. Pritchard, who has given a handful of small donations to Democrats, said the First Amendment applies to partisan and nonpartisan media outlets.
In short, he said his major concern isn't that the Post hired a political activist to produce news stories.
"I'm not really condemning this in any legal terms," said Pritchard, who retired in 2023. "But it would be nice if everybody was a little more transparent about their ideology and where they're coming from."
Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 313-6684 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on X at @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.
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