racinecountyeye.com
RACINE, Wis. — Racine County Eye, which has no affiliation whatsoever with Kenosha County Eye, is a Racine-based blog founded in 2013 by Denise Lockwood (D) and is facing new questions after multiple fundraising efforts have yielded minimal public support while introducing claims of tax-deductible donations.
As previously reported, Lockwood issued an urgent appeal in late March stating the blog needed to raise $5,000 within 72 hours and $20,000 by April 30 to remain operational. The message did not explain the cause of the financial shortfall, and follow-up questions from Kenosha County Eye went unanswered.
In the weeks since, Racine County Eye has continued seeking financial support through additional campaigns, including one tied to its 2026 election coverage.
That campaign, launched Feb. 1, seeks to raise $15,000 to fund voter guides and election-related reporting. As of this week, more than seven weeks into the effort, the campaign had raised just $87 from two donors.
The fundraising page states that donations are “tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law” because they are processed through a fiscal sponsorship arrangement tied to Report for America and The GroundTruth Project, a nonprofit organization.
However, the structure raises additional questions that have not been publicly addressed. The campaign notes that donations are placed into a restricted fund controlled by the fiscal sponsor and are subject to reallocation under the terms of that agreement.
It is unclear how much direct control Racine County Eye has over those funds, how they are ultimately distributed, or whether donors fully understand the conditions attached to their contributions.
The campaign also describes the voter guides as “nonpartisan,” stating that donors have no role in editorial decisions. Racine County Eye has previously characterized its election coverage as neutral and service-oriented.
At the same time, critics have questioned whether the outlet’s editorial direction aligns with that description, citing Lockwood’s past public involvement in Democratic and progressive causes.
The slow pace of fundraising—combined with the earlier emergency appeal—raises broader concerns about whether the blog is effectively connecting with its audience or sustaining a viable business model.
Kenosha County Eye again sought comment from Lockwood regarding the campaign’s structure, the earlier fundraising targets, and the blog’s overall financial condition. No response was received.
The situation stands in contrast to Kenosha County Eye, which continues to add paid subscribers each week and now has only limited advertising space remaining. That outlet has emphasized a subscription-based model with constrained advertising inventory while maintaining strong readership growth.
While some local news organizations have struggled with changing revenue models, the differing trajectories of the two outlets raise a central question: why is one operation expanding while another appears to be struggling to generate even modest donor support?
With fundraising efforts producing limited results and key questions unanswered, the long-term sustainability of the Racine-based blog’s model remains unclear.
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14 Responses
Then she’ll be done.
But then what ?
Everyone needs to work.
Everyone needs a job.
Bills need to be paid.
But to this story. Just a handful of miles apart and one is thriving and the other is struggling, at best !
Why is that ? People ? Seems like similar demographics. Both city and rural. Both have historic past industry at the same time potential new job growth. Revitalization is happening.
It’s hard to see the problem until you look at the political slant.
KCE is obviously right wing conservative whereas RCE if left wing liberal.
Can anyone explain any other difference ?
And if that’s the only difference then the path forward is clear !
Start catering to the conservatives in Racine and Racine County and see what happens.
They are there ! Plenty of them !
Start a similar subscription model.
KCE offers every story to be glimpsed at for the subject matter and open opportunities to comment without paying a dime.
If you feel that $55. a year is worth it to be completely informed then make that choice.
$55. ? Less than just one dinner for two !!
If not you are still free to be entertained by the complete gamut of comments and able to add your own, still free of charge !
Simple. Not hard to duplicate. Just a few miles away. Why is it so hard for Denise to see that ?!?
My guess is that the owner of the Racine County Eye, doesn’t put forth any effort to making the business successful like Kevin does! People aren’t just going to go to you, if your publication doesn’t have anything in it to read!! You’re only as successful as you want to be!!
Something fishy going on🤔
$………RCE: Get in my belly!
Racine County Eye is only relevant to Dem liberals who mostly are dominated with TDS and are detached from reality. They expect others (taxpayers) to pay for many things that do little to add value to the community.
RCE like most socialist inspired endeavors will likely fail.
I am trying to grasp the point of this story.
Racine County Eye put out a mass email request for donations.
Kevin reported on a company that “seems” to be on the road to insolvency.
That’s all. Just Reporting on information.
Does that make sense to you now ?
True, but this “update” seems redundant as there’s little to no new info reported.
This is the second mass email she sent to her list of previous contacts looking for money.
The first was March 29 looking for an immediate $5,000. hoping for $20,000. in 30 days by April 29.
The one reported here was April 29
Just 30 days later asking for $15,000.
Read the story. This is new information
Worse nightmare scenario for many who run the City, Courts, and Racine Unified would be a site like Kenosha Couny Eye that actually reports the news, questions leadership, and exposes coverups.
All things democrat turn to shit, eventually.
…and they are just continually full of it.
RCE is a nightmare to navigate. It’s disorganized, and the articles are written with such a skew that there’s not even an illusion of neutrality.
And— as a Racine County Resident, I believe that the best thing that could happen to RCE would be for it to be purchased by Mr. Mathewson and for us to start getting some actual news/reporting.