Barbara Johnson’s giving journey
March 20, 2026
“I think we’re here on Earth to try to make our little piece of it as healthy and as prosperous as we can for as many as we can,” said Barbara Johnson. “Giving back to
the community became important to me when I realized I could. And the cause that is important to me is nonprofit journalism.”
News and Accountability
Barbara was a student at the University of Michigan during the Watergate era, which showed her the power of journalism to hold those in authority to account. This plays out even at the local level.
“It’s easy if you live in Madison or even Milwaukee to take our local journalism for granted, because we have relatively a lot of local journalism,” Barbara said. “But in most of Wisconsin that isn’t true. In that kind of vacuum, how do you even begin to think about what’s important when there’s just silence?”
Rebuilding the State’s Local News Ecosystem
“Since 2013, two-thirds of Wisconsin’s journalists have seen their jobs disappear, and the state lost 19 newspapers in 2023 and 2024 alone,” Barbara said. “The work of local news is, in part, to bind us together in our community values. And that without local news, we can’t do that.”
Barbara’s belief in the importance of local journalism led her to create an endowment fund to support Wisconsin Watch through Madison Community Foundation.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit news organization working to help communities fill the void left by the loss of local news outlets. “We do that by providing local reporting that lets people know what’s going on and helps make our communities better,” explained George Stanley, CEO, Wisconsin Watch.
“I think this is a moment in history when local news is more important than it’s ever been,” Barbara explained. “That’s what ties us together and helps us know where we live. If we have no idea what our City Councils are deciding, how our money is being spent, we will find ourselves with deeper problems and greater divides.”
Supporting Her Values, and Looking to the Future
Barbara came to MCF to create a fund to support Wisconsin Watch and the vital work it’s doing in our communities. She later established plans for the Wisconsin Watch fund to grow through a gift through her estate. “Sorting through your priorities and your values and doing it while you’re still able to see the effect of your gift is really rewarding,” Barabara said. “Wisconsin has such a long history of being a proud, thoughtful place where we care for one another. This is part of that.”
Barbara is using her giving to lay the groundwork for the future of Wisconsin journalism. “I hope 50 years from now, people will look at the state of Wisconsin and think, ‘Wow, they did something right way back early on to create this thriving network of local news sources.’ I would be really proud if my gifts were thought to be part of the beginning of this.”
You can watch Barbara share her story on our website.
If you would like to explore how you can support the causes you care about, we would be happy to help. Call us at 608-232-1763 or email legacy@madisongives.org.
