Uppity Wisconsin

Part 1. UW Journalists Fabricate the US Government Accountability Office's Conclusion on High Speed Rail

... WCIJ finds a 'useful' phrase buried in the GAO report and represents those 17 words as the whole of the GAO report....

By Bill Sell

Introduction to this Series of Reports

Part 1. The Fraud

From Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism Code of Ethics:

Test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertent error. Deliberate distortion is never permissible.

Did they? Draw your own conclusion:

GAO Report

The U.S. Government Accountability Office published a report last March on High Speed Rail. GAO-09-317 High Speed Passenger Rail: Future Development Will Depend on Addressing... March 19, 2009

This GAO document is fairly exhaustive and probably measures up to GAO's purpose, balancing need with political and financial feasibility. In this sizeable report (108 pages, 40,000 words) there is a panoply of guidelines.

Other than this mis-quote WCIJ says nothing else about this GAO Report.

In fact, the GAO itself concludes with this amazing statement in its Conclusions section, p. 54: 

... Yet the potential benefits of high speed rail - both to riders and nonriders - are many....

How did WCIJ go from GAO's report to a 'conclusion' that might have been written by well-known opponent of public investment in transportation?

Copy-Edit-Paste=Journalism

Copy: WCIJ copies 17 word phrase (a series of nouns, no verbs) from GAO report.

Edit: WCIJ composes new sentence - new subject, new verb - borrowing GAO's 17-word phrase, and fabricates GAO 'conclusion.'

Paste: WCIJ's invented GAO summary becomes core of WCIJ claim.

"Investigative" Journalism: In this single sentence, WCIJ makes an erroneous claim about the GAO. WCIJ language such as "concluded" and "thrown into doubt" misrepresent the substance of the 108 page GAO report.

Here is the full GAO paragraph from which WCIJ selected 17 words:

Given the current fiscal crisis facing the nation and the pressing needs facing the federal government in many areas, it is critical that federal dollars are used efficiently and effectively and are focused where they can produce the greatest benefits. Failure to apply these principles could lead to an unfocused federal investment in high speed rail corridors or projects and, as a consequence, little impact on the congestion, environmental, energy, and other issues that face the U.S. transportation system. [Emphasis added to show the phrase that appears inside of WCIJ's reconstructed sentence.] GAO-09-317, p. 44.

Screen Shot from GAO PDF file

WCIJ changed this GAO text, and offered the following as the 'conclusion' of the GAO report:

Other benefits of such projects have been thrown into doubt by a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office report that concluded rail projects would have "little impact on the congestion, environmental, energy and other issues that face the U. S. transportation system." [emphasis added]

Screen Shot of WCIJ Website

• Nowhere does the GAO report 'throw into doubt' benefits of rail - quite the contrary.
• Nowhere does the GAO report 'conclude' that "rail projects would have 'little impact...'" as claimed by WCIJ.
• Why would WCIJ throw its reputation on the line for a forgery?
• Why would WCIJ start its life (June 2009) with high-minded journalistic principles, and then throw itself into the now fashionable media mud?

GAO Opposite of WCIJ Claim

In fact, the GAO itself concludes the exact opposite. GAO summarizes itself with this language (not quoted by WCIJ): "... Yet the potential benefits of high speed rail - both to riders and nonriders - are many...." p. 54. [emphasis added]

Why would an Investigative Journalist avoid this statement? What is the WCIJ agenda?

GAO Report Suggests Positive Benefits

GAO posts extensive commentary on the pluses expected from intercity rail, from both a variety of elected officials and various government departments.

Truth be told we advocates don't always like what the GAO says. But it performs a necessary and credible service to citizens and politicians.

Commentary on Report by Lexie Clinton of the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, with Andy Hall and Jim Packard. Web: July 21 and Radio: July 22, 2009.

Part 1 is the first of my several commentaries on the July 22 High Speed Rail report by Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism reporting on Wisconsin Public Radio. I will soon publish more about this WCIJ report - about the content, language, common sense, the Governor's transportation strategy, the debate about reducing congestion, and suggestions of resources available to a journalist interested in transportation policy.

Next, Part 2, the WCIJ Virus, spreading the fraud.

The author is a life-long Milwaukee resident. Founder and principal of a 33 year old downtown Milwaukee business serving editors and authors nationwide. Founding Member Bay View Neighborhood Association. Founder of Transit Matters. Steering Committee Coalition for Advancing Transit. Member Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin. Shepherd Express Community Activist of the Year, 2007. Member, Public Policy Forum. Associate Member, Investigative Reporters and Editors.