Influential "Influence"

To residents of the other 49 states, Wisconsin's lenient drunk driving laws might seem shocking. More than one-third of all Wisconsin drivers convicted of "operating while intoxicated" (OWI) have been convicted before -- sometimes more than 12 times. Bills designed to strengthen OWI violations are consistently killed in the state legislature. In January, prompted by "Under the Influence," two state lawmakers crafted a bill that would permanently revoke the driving privileges of repeat OWI offenders. The fate of this bill had yet to be determined as E&P went to press, but the political response is certainly indicative of the power of advocacy journalism. The series spawned a thought-provoking panel discussion that was live-streamed on the Web.