THREAD: Writing this story was no easy feat.
In other states, you can get a full list of a person/corporation/PAC's donations to a political candidate in seconds w a search tool. Not in Mississippi. On @MississippiSOS site, that takes hours/days.
Here's what it took. 1/
In other states, you can get a full list of a person/corporation/PAC's donations to a political candidate in seconds w a search tool. Not in Mississippi. On @MississippiSOS site, that takes hours/days.
Here's what it took. 1/
(1) I had to search for and download annual report PDFs from each of Gov. Reeves' four different political committees from 2008-2019.
But you can't just search "Tate Reeves," or you'll miss his "Tate for Governor" committee from the 2019 race.
👇🏻Cont.
But you can't just search "Tate Reeves," or you'll miss his "Tate for Governor" committee from the 2019 race.
👇🏻Cont.
(2) So after I downloaded 18 annual reports from 2008-2018, another problem: I was missing PDFs of contributions from 2011, 2015, 2019—years when Tate Reeves was up for election.
Why? Because MS doesn't post annul reports for election year contributions.
👇🏻Cont.
Why? Because MS doesn't post annul reports for election year contributions.
👇🏻Cont.
(3) So how'd I get a full list of Gov. Reeves' political donations from 2011, 2015, & 2019?
I had to download 7 periodic reports (29 more PDFs) for each committee that collected campaign contributions for Reeves in each campaign year.
👇🏻Cont.
I had to download 7 periodic reports (29 more PDFs) for each committee that collected campaign contributions for Reeves in each campaign year.
👇🏻Cont.
(4) Here's the deal: You have to know that the @MississippiSOS website has three different search systems.
One is for reports from 2016-now, another for 2009-2015, & another for 2007-2008. In each system, I repeated relevant searches for each committee.
Cont. 👇🏻
One is for reports from 2016-now, another for 2009-2015, & another for 2007-2008. In each system, I repeated relevant searches for each committee.
Cont. 👇🏻
(5) OK, now I have 47 PDFs & 3,181 pages of reports.
But pages aren't searchable—just flat image files.
The campaigns created the PDFs w/haphazardly scanned paper copies, w/many pages sideways, slanted, or cut off (common—not just a Reeves thing). Reactions mine.
Cont.👇🏻
But pages aren't searchable—just flat image files.
The campaigns created the PDFs w/haphazardly scanned paper copies, w/many pages sideways, slanted, or cut off (common—not just a Reeves thing). Reactions mine.
Cont.👇🏻
(6) So what now? I went through each PDF &, using Adobe Acrobat, rotated the pages & straightened them out best I could. Then, I combined all 47 PDFs into one massive 3,181-page document.
After that, I ran Acrobat's OCR tool to make them searchable—a ~5 hour process.
Cont.👇🏻
After that, I ran Acrobat's OCR tool to make them searchable—a ~5 hour process.
Cont.👇🏻
(7) Now I have a searchable document! Great! But there's still many hours to go.
I had to search the PDF for names (and find variations of the names) of all 17 members of Restart MS and manually input each donation into a spreadsheet. But there's so much more.
Cont.👇🏻
I had to search the PDF for names (and find variations of the names) of all 17 members of Restart MS and manually input each donation into a spreadsheet. But there's so much more.
Cont.👇🏻
(8) Then I had to search for each corporation, industry org, or PAC where each Restart MS member is a leader. This helped not only catch direct corporate/PAC donations, but also guaranteed I didn't miss any individual donations when Acrobat didn't accurately render a name. Cont👇🏻
(9) The 17 Restart MS appointees represent 50+ companies, PACs, & other organizations that Gov. Reeves got money from in some way.
I had to identify and search for executives/lobbyists/etc at each organization and manually each of those contributions to the spreadsheet. Cont.👇🏻
I had to identify and search for executives/lobbyists/etc at each organization and manually each of those contributions to the spreadsheet. Cont.👇🏻
(10) After identifying all the individuals, businesses, PACs, industry associations, etc., related to the 17 Restart MS members who donated to Reeves before he appointed them and manually inputing each donation, I ended up with 219 contributions, totaling $767,386.94. Cont.👇🏻
(11) Now, I've compiled+organized all of this info. Now, I need to figure out what it means, call people, organize it in a way that makes sense for a story (not a spreadsheet) and write—typical journalist stuff. Cont.👇🏻mississippifreepress.org/2788/governors…
(12) Voila! I finally have a finished story—after 2 weeks of unintentionally misleading my editor & my husband with, like, 15 overly optimistic deadlines for when I'd be done with this monstrosity.
In other states, the pre-writing work would've taken an hour or less. Cont.👇🏻
In other states, the pre-writing work would've taken an hour or less. Cont.👇🏻
(13) But for other stories, this research could be FAR more difficult.
Suppose I suspected that from 2015-2019, a swampy CEO used campaign donations to influence legislators to pass favorable bills & wanted to know which reps/senators he'd given money.
How'd I find out? Cont.👇🏻
Suppose I suspected that from 2015-2019, a swampy CEO used campaign donations to influence legislators to pass favorable bills & wanted to know which reps/senators he'd given money.
How'd I find out? Cont.👇🏻
(14) Individual donors don't file reports like campaigns must.
My only choice would be to download PDFs for all 122 House reps/senators.
For each, that'd include 3 annual reports (2016-2018), & 14 periodic reports for 2015 and 2019 (election years).
That's 2,074 PDFs. Cont.👇🏻
My only choice would be to download PDFs for all 122 House reps/senators.
For each, that'd include 3 annual reports (2016-2018), & 14 periodic reports for 2015 and 2019 (election years).
That's 2,074 PDFs. Cont.👇🏻
(15) Okay, so I've downloaded 2,074 PDFs (yeah, right), and I'm not even bothering to check MS lobbying reports (whole other deal).
Now I have to sift through tens of thousands of pages and rotate/straighten badly-scanned files. Cont.👇🏻
Now I have to sift through tens of thousands of pages and rotate/straighten badly-scanned files. Cont.👇🏻
(16) Okay, I've done all these things no person could possibly do. Now I need a $5,000 computer that is capable of running the processes to make these pages searchable without exploding. So I go buy that computer, and wait about two or three days for it to process them. Cont.👇🏻
(17) Okay! Pages cleaned up, combined, and made searchable. Now I use my massive super computer to search through tens (or hundreds?) of thousands of pages to find that one donor's name, hope it's worth it, and manually enter each contribution in a spreadsheet. Cont.👇🏻
(18) Getting data for a story about one CEO's donations to all legislators would be infinitely more intense than the one I spent 1.5 wks on re: Gov Reeves. It'd take months/years.
But with a database like other states have, you'd get the same data on the CEO in ~10 secs. Cont.👇🏻
But with a database like other states have, you'd get the same data on the CEO in ~10 secs. Cont.👇🏻
(19) There are several solutions for this. The most obvious is that @MississippiSOS could require all candidates to submit each contribution to a searchable, user-friendly database. That database already exists, but is useless bc candidates aren't required to use it & most don't.
(20) Good news: @MississippiSOS Michael Watson told me last year, before he entered the office, that he wants to do this. He's only been there a few months, so hopefully he'll follow through!
(21) Alternatively, some coding wiz could possibly write an algorithm to parse the PDFs and use that to create a searchable database. I don't know how practical this is, though.
A non-profit collaborative could create one manually, but you'd need dozens doing this work non-stop.
A non-profit collaborative could create one manually, but you'd need dozens doing this work non-stop.
(22) We need a solution. I'm afraid too many politicians' interests depend on making it as hard as possible to for us peasants to "follow the money."
That's why I was determined to do this story no matter how ridiculous the process. Please read & support: mississippifreepress.org/2788/governors…
That's why I was determined to do this story no matter how ridiculous the process. Please read & support: mississippifreepress.org/2788/governors…
I appreciate @clarionledger's @lramseth for vouching for how difficult this work can be. Every journalist in MS and resident who cares about transparency and accountability would appreciate an overhaul of @MississippiSOS' online campaign finance system.
One other point: There are a number of independent PACs that are not legally tied to Gov. Tate Reeves' campaigns but have supported him over the years & solicited contributions to do so.
So there could be even more than $765,000 tied to Restart MS members. But I'm one person.
So there could be even more than $765,000 tied to Restart MS members. But I'm one person.
