How it Works
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service (NNS) in collaboration with Wisconsin Watch delivers information directly to residents on demand through brief, targeted text messages, social media posts, and online investigative news stories.
Engagement starts when an English-speaking resident texts MKE or a Spanish-speaking resident texts MKEESP to 73224 to request information about one or more of the News414 focus areas:
- Food resources
- Housing
- Employment
- Mental health & domestic violence
- Civic engagement
- Health and Safety (especially COVID-19)
News414 then sends very brief, targeted, timely information about the topic/s the subscriber requested. For example, if someone requests information about COVID-19, they may get a brief message explaining local mask mandates and symptoms followed by a prompt like this.
- Text 1 for testing
- Text 2 for hospital info and capacity
- Text 3 for masks and face coverings
- Text 4 for non COVID-19 health issues
- Text 5 for “I need a reporter to follow-up with me”
After the initial engagement, subscribers will receive four or more texts each month in English or Spanish with up-to-date information on their topics of interest.
Residents can also Text MKE or MKEESP to 73224 and ask to speak personally with a local reporter — whether to seek additional information, lend their voice to a news story or provide a tip about an issue that needs investigating.
TRY IT!
Text MKE to 73224 now to see for yourself how it works.