County board's resolution warns journalists on reporting

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Some local government officials in southwestern Wisconsin want to prosecute journalists who "selectively report" on the results of an upcoming water study in the region.

The study is due soon in Lafayette, Grant and Iowa counties. A resolution introduced for a vote at Tuesday's Lafayette County Conservation Committee calls for a press release on the results and warns the media to print it without alteration and not to "glean information and selectively report it in order to interpret the results for their own means." The resolution calls for violators to be prosecuted.

The resolution cited past leaks and slander, but it wasn't immediately clear exactly what prompted the resolution. The body's chairman didn't immediately respond to a message.

Board member Kriss Marion, who posted the resolution on Facebook, called it "nonsense."