(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
KENOSHA, Wis. — For decades, the Kenosha News served as the media coordinator for Kenosha County courts, acting as the central point of contact between judges and reporters seeking permission to photograph or record court proceedings. That role has now quietly changed — and the decision is already drawing criticism, questions, and controversy.
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
According to emails circulated among local media outlets, the Kenosha County Clerk of Circuit Court, Rebecca Matoska-Mentink, has informed reporters that the Kenosha News is no longer serving as the county’s media coordinator. Instead, the role has been handed to David “Cole” Kollath, the general manager of WGTD, a taxpayer-funded public radio station based at Gateway Technical College.
The shift appears to mark another symbolic decline for the Kenosha News, once the dominant media institution in the county. While the paper still publishes daily, its influence and reach have steadily eroded in recent years as readership has migrated elsewhere and staffing has thinned.
But it is the choice of Kollath — not merely the removal of the Kenosha News — that has sparked the most backlash.
WGTD is widely regarded as one of the least-read and least-consumed media outlets in Kenosha County, with a limited audience and minimal local news presence. More significantly, Kollath has been the subject of prior reporting for using taxpayer-funded public radio to promote overtly partisan political messaging, including efforts to boost Democratic candidates and causes.
In a previous Kenosha County Eye investigation, Kollath was documented hosting and promoting programming that critics say crossed the line from journalism into political activism — all while being paid with public dollars. That history has now raised serious concerns about neutrality, fairness, and conflicts of interest as he assumes a role that effectively controls how and when other journalists gain access to the courts.
Multiple journalists and members of the public have questioned whether a media coordinator should be someone actively employed by a media outlet at all.
Many argue the role should instead be handled by a neutral court employee — someone paid by and accountable to the judicial system, not a reporter, editor, or broadcast executive with personal or political viewpoints. The media coordinator serves as a gatekeeper, routing requests for still photography and electronic coverage to judges and advising on court policy. Critics say placing that responsibility in the hands of a partisan media figure undermines public confidence in equal access.
Concerns have also been raised about the process itself.
Under Wisconsin Supreme Court rules, media coordinators are designated through the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council in coordination with the chief judge of the judicial administrative district. Those rules do not clearly authorize a county clerk to unilaterally appoint or replace a media coordinator.
In recent days, inquiries have been sent to Chief Judge Wynn Laufenberg, Second Judicial Administrative District Court Administrator Louis Moore, Gateway Technical College Interim President Morgan Phillips, and Clerk of Circuit Court Rebecca Matoska-Mentink seeking clarification on how and why this decision was made. As of publication, none have responded.
The unanswered questions have only fueled speculation and criticism — particularly as the courts transition media access authority away from a long-standing newspaper institution and into the hands of a state-funded radio executive with a documented partisan record.
Whether the move was driven by administrative convenience, political considerations, or simple indifference to optics remains unclear. What is clear is that the decision has intensified scrutiny of how court media access is managed — and who should be trusted to manage it.
As one local journalist put it privately, “The media coordinator shouldn’t be the loudest voice in the room — or the most political. It should be the most neutral.”
For now, that debate remains unresolved, and Kenosha’s court system is facing growing pressure to explain how a role meant to ensure fairness and access ended up in the hands of one of the county’s most controversial media figures.
25 Responses
Also the husband of County Board Supervisor Guida Brown
He’s not. You’re thinking of an on-air personality.
She’s married to David McGrath who retired from WGTD recently.
I remember the play by play inciteful crap on fb figuring the keno riots….
We are in over our head in the SWAMP called Kenosha
My name is Cole and I am the new king of the courts.
The media coordinator position was created over 40 years ago to help facilitate orderly audiovisual coverage of court proceedings. It’s really a ministerial job that probably isn’t needed 90+ per cent of the time these days across the state. Maybe it should be eliminated.
It’s a journalist stand off in that picture
Imagine paying a clown, 110k to report on a clown activity. To promote circus show actors.
The clown car is never ending in Kenosha.
Real life Barnum and Bailey’s, and everyone is buying the bullshit trinket information and spinner hats, because the hats are free.
This is the reason why I teach my kids to never accept “candy” from strangers, but from a different dynamic.
Funny you should call him a clown. Many Gateway employees call it a circus. There is so much abuse of taxpayers dollars. The DEI VPs are incompetent along with the director of budgets lacking an accounting degree who very rarely works, instead listens to podcasts & is snitch for VP/CEO.
If you’re familiar with the Peter Principle it describes Gateway exactly.
Shocked the board doesn’t step in.
Who ever heard of eliminating unnecessary jobs that have been kept for years then pay them for another 6 months. It’s a shock Gateway hasn’t closed to the abuse & mismanagement of taxpayers dollars.
Why is WGTD still even around? Mr. Cole is a overpaid clown like the rest of the management. There are so many directors it’s hilarious.
Gateway needs DOGE as next President when howdy dowdy leaves in June.
If he’s still earning a salary from GTC, he’s padding his Wisconsin Retirement System pension….double dipping. He was making a lavish salary at GTC yet nobody ever saw him working, and definitely never 40hours. Brian Albrecht never cared, seems the new president doesn’t either. Open records request his GTC salary, it’s eye opening and mind boggling. And this new job is also WRS eligible. He’s going to be rolling in cash….and like others at GTC (Bill Whyte, Zina Haywood,Albrecht, etc) he’ll ramp up his pay the last 3 years before retirement so his pension doubles….all on taxpayers….
The media coordinator is an unpaid post.
So very true. Bryan, Bill & Zina stole not just money from the college. Then they moved incompetent DEI hires into VP positions.
The only good VPs Stephanie & Stacey left. Funny the only white females, the rest are black.
The county already has a communications manager (overpaid photographer as some say) why can’t he coordinate the media? Also Kenosha News doesn’t publish Mondays anymore and extremely expensive to publish in and not reliable at all. Not even sure how it exists anymore.
All 6 of WGTD’s listeners approve
Why do we have to pay for this useless position anyway?!
You’d be shocked at the number of useless positions and grossly overpaid.
Salaries are public record & can be found on KCE.
Why didn’t Jacqueline Morris get fired after paying out millions in stipends?? Her whole department is incompetent & could be outsourced for less than half the money & be run more efficient. Employees aren’t treat fairly as long as bias Jacqueline & company are in charge.
Typical BS … Inside job in Kenowhere ..
Kevin … definitely inside job …why wouldn’t they promote yourself more people read your stuff KCE than the Kenosha news and this scammer for WGTD.. I don’t know one person who listens to WGTD unless you’re some democrat running for office .. Another
It was an inside job. However, I have no interest in doing all of this work for no pay. It’s a position that carries with it nothing but headaches.
Make it Lenny Palmer instead!
Oh, please …
It was a joke. I mean, if you’re going to be ridiculous, might as well go all the way.
Thankfully the media coordinator doesn’t decide who can cover court proceedings and how but rather is an information conduit between the media and the judge presiding in a case. The job had more prominence when there were more media outlets. To illustrate, I was one of the reporters covering the case of a Cuban refugee staying at Fort McCoy who killed a women in Sparta. Three TV stations are in the LaCrosse market alone. At least three LaCrosse radio stations had news departments back then as did stations in Sparta, Tomah and Black River Falls. Then you had the LaCrosse Tribune, the weekly newspapers, Wisconsin and Minnesota Public Radio, Milwaukee Journal, Milwaukee Sentinel, Wisconsin State Journal, Capital Times and other media outlets. It would have been utter chaos for the judge to have to deal with all of them and their needs. That’s why they had a media coordinator. It’s not just being a conduit with a big case but also coordinating technical aspects, such as which station will prove the camera in the courtroom and which will distribute the feed to other outlets, as but one example.