April 3 will be the end of an era for Madison journalism. Tone Madison, the proudly independent online publication that has challenged Madison’s institutions from political to cultural since 2014, is closing its doors.
“We didn’t water down our voice to placate advertisers or funders,” the editors wrote in their announcement. “There were no unaccountable executives, no rich men turning our publication into a plaything, no compromise. We’re proud that we were always willing to poke the bear, even when other outlets were busy trying to make friends with the bear.”
The Tone Madison archive will remain online, so readers can enjoy some of their favorite stories and headlines that Tone published over the years. Here are some of our faves. Who else but Tone could have written about a feud between a local editorial cartoonist and a witch?
This one’s a bit of a homer, as City Cast Madison’s Executive Producer Hayley Sperling wrote for Tone Madison back in 2018 to share a sneak peek into the delight that is late-night escargot at the Tornado Room and what makes the experience quite so magical.
Writer Reid Kurkerewicz makes the case for why John Wilde is Wisconsin’s most famous painter, not without some reader pushback, and the fascinating legacy he leaves behind.
As Tone Madison’s editor’s note declares: “I don’t know if Tone Madison has ever published a headline more attention-grabbing than this one.” A feud between a cartoonist and a professor ended with… a witch cursing Phil Hands’ dick.
Reporter Mia Sato unpacks the dismantling of the statue of the “Forward” symbol during the summer of 2020, and how hollow the act feels in the face of racism she was intimately familiar with and facing during her undergraduate time at UW-Madison.
UW-Madison professor Sami Schalk started a movement of amplifying pleasure activism, and others contributed their own forms of pleasure activism – from the joy of sandwiches to the power of listening to music.
Journalist John McCracken attended a last-minute Tuesday night concert by “metalcore giants” Underoath and found sad pizza, empty chairs, and good music, interspersed with a band Q&A all in an arcade.
Tone co-founder Scott Gordon highlights the moment when access to entertainment in Madison began to feel, “uncontainable and unhinged”: the $500 “curated picnic basket” that included apples, pears, and… disposable plates? This might seem more commonplace in the days of luxury cabanas at Breese Stevens Field, but back in 2017, the price tag was shocking.
Gordon also brings us the “state’s greatest bizarro digital communication, or something,” when Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine commented “cool building” about the state’s Capitol Building, just a few years shy of its centennial celebration.
For a film culture writer, it’s easy to criticize the multiplexes. But it’s not so easy to criticize the indie theatrical scene. So kudos to Tone film editor Grant Phipps for being willing to take on both in his piece questioning why theaters of all sizes are still showing films by problematic directors like Roman Polanski and Luc Besson. It’s a no-sacred-cows essay that encapsulates what makes Tone Madison so special.
