Two More Press Club Wins for The Recombobulation Area and Civic Media

The Recombobulation Area and Civic Media picked up a pair of honors at the Milwaukee Press Club’s 2025 Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism Awards, continuing a remarkable run of recognition for the reader-supported outlet.

Contributor Emily Mills took home Gold in the Online category for “Best Single Editorial, Statement of Editorial Position or Opinion,” recognized for her column How AI is Harming Wisconsin’s Path to Renewable Energy. Founding Editor Dan Shafer earned Bronze for “Best Columnist,” also in the Online category.

The wins mark the sixth straight year The Recombobulation Area has claimed a Milwaukee Press Club award — and the fifth consecutive year it’s brought home Gold. Mills joins a distinguished group of previous Gold honorees that includes Shafer, Angela Lang, and Philip Rocco.

The 2025 awards dinner also celebrated Sacred Cat Award honoree Astead Herndon, host and editorial director at Vox, along with 2026 Headliners community service awardees Ken-David Masur, music director and conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and Mary McCormick, executive director of the Rotary Club of Milwaukee. A full list of winners is available soon on the Milwaukee Press Club website.

With these latest honors, The Recombobulation Area has now accumulated 21 Milwaukee Press Club awards since its launch in 2019. Shafer himself has earned 17 of them through the publication, adding to a career total of 24 awards that stretches back to his earlier work at the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and ThirdCoast Digest.

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