We took on a claim from the Oshkosh Northwestern that Republican Senate nominee Ron Johnson sought stimulus funds to the Grand Opera House when he was treasurer of the Grand’s board in March 2009. Let’s go to the quick:
Perhaps most revealing was the paper’s response to inquiries from PolitiCrap. We originally emailed the reporter, asking:
“Do you have any basis for your story on Ron Johnson and the stimulus funds other than the single email that you cited?”
The email was referred to the city editor, Karl Ebert, who answered with one word “yes.” We then responded:
Well, let me rephrase; In your article in which you report that Ron Johnson supported the use of stimulus funds for the Opera House, you cite an email… which does not say he supported the use of stimulus funds.. only that he inquired about it. What other basis for the the lede do you have and are you wiling to share/explain?
The response?
The word “supported” was not part of our reporting.
Karl Ebert
Cute. But not an answer.
The bottomline, as one of the team writes: The newspaper ran “a story based on a claim off of an email based completely on hearsay.”
Rating:
