Posted June 20, 2008

By KATE KENNEDY
Newseum front pages editor

New Jersey's congressional delegation was pictured on the Courier-Post's front page on Sunday, June 8, with dollar figures identifying their roles in co-sponsoring congressional earmarks.

In "The Politics of Pork" package, the Courier-Post of Cherry Hill said: "Almost $15 billion – $285 million in New Jersey alone – was doled out last year by Congress for pet projects for everything from defense to beach to roads. Some say this system of handing out pork is ripe for waste and abuse."

The Courier-Post was one of more than 75 newspapers that participated in an Associated Press Managing Editors project that examined congressional earmarks.

E.J. Mitchell, the Courier-Post's executive editor, called the nationwide reporting project impressive in scope and depth. "For the first time, we were able to provide our readers with a detail examination of how our congressional delegation helped New Jersey, particularly South Jersey, with earmarks. We were able to list each of our congressional delegation's earmarks individually, which allowed readers to question the wisdom of their decisions."

APME partnered with open-government groups the Sunlight Foundation and Taxpayers for Common Sense to train reporters to find and analyze federal data. Reporters from two dozen newspapers then contributed to a national story distributed by The Associated Press.

From The Olympian in Washington State to the Culpepper Star-Exponent outside Washington, D.C., newspapers in 27 states published front-page stories from the watchdog project.

The term "earmark" describes lawmakers' efforts to insert requests for money for specific projects into federal-spending bills. In this budget year, more than $18 billion was "earmarked" for pet projects.

The Monterey (Calif.) Herald described the process as a "culture of money, influence and politics," and The Tulsa (Okla.) World called earmarks "the longest four-letter word in American government."

APME's president, David Ledford, noted that the country's largest newspapers have reported on voter revolt over earmarks and what has resulted – improved disclosure.

But "We believe it's important for these issues to be probed deeper" in community newspapers, Ledford wrote in an editorial. "My hope is the local reporting fueled with federal data helps citizens nationwide understand this is the system our senators and representatives use to bring home the bacon – be it wasteful or worthy."

"Congress keeps gorging itself at trough," The Modesto (Calif.) Bee said on its front page. An accompanying editorial said, "Virtually every aspect of government functions better in the bright light of day. Sunshine will help improve the earmark process, too."

The News Tribune of Tacoma, Wash., looked at about 350 earmarks from the 2008 fiscal year budget that benefited its state. A second story added: "Lawmakers want reform – and credit for projects their earmarks fund."

The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer noted that "Anger over earmark abuse hasn't stopped lawmakers from adding billions in spending to legislation." The Tri-City Herald in Kennewick, Wash., said: "Earmark reform no easy task."

Susan M. Catron, the Savannah (Ga.) Morning News' executive editor, said her newspaper joined in the project because "the opportunity to present the issue to readers with good research was golden." The Morning News' front page was among those that looked at specific earmarks of local lawmakers. "As it turned out," Catron said, "the compilation of other reporting helped us really gain and give perspective on earmarks and how tied to them our representatives might be."

"This effort speaks directly to the mission of APME," said Ledford, executive editor of The News Journal in Wilmington, Del., "giving editors the tools they need to do quality journalism while at once strengthening the relationship between newspapers and the AP. We're thrilled that more than 75 newspapers participated."

The Post-Standard of Syracuse, N.Y., reported that one of its lawmakers not only has brought home more than $900 million through earmarks but because of a leadership role on the House Appropriations subcommittee, he has influenced spending in districts beyond New York: "We know what he does for CNY ... But what about Butte, Mont.?"

Like the Courier-Post of Cherry Hill, other Gannett New Jersey newspapers broke up coverage into a series. In Day Two, the Asbury Park Press in Neptune reported that "Millions of earmark dollars have gone to a New Jersey contractor under investigation."

In addition to examining earmarks, newspapers looked at political donations from recipients of special spending. In Memphis, The Commercial Appeal's report on a Mississippi senator – his earmarks as a top spender and political contributions from beneficiaries of earmarks – was one of the most read on the newspaper's Web site.

Beyond words and numbers, audio and video of members of Congress and interactive graphics helped explain earmarks' place in the federal budgeting process. The Chattanooga (Tenn.) Times Free Press and others posted an interactive state-by-state map created by AP.

The Commercial Appeal and others provided an online database of local earmarks. The News Journal in Delaware posted video of Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, who spoke about "Why earmarks are bad public policy."

Participation was not limited to large and mid-sized newspapers. Managing Editor Joe Stinnett of The News & Advance in Lynchburg, Va., said the project was important "because it was a way to show readers how their congressmen were involved in deciding how the public's money is spent."

The News & Advance combined local and AP stories in a top-of-page package. "It's probably too early to judge the impact," Stinnett said, "but we focused on our two local congressmen and found two very different approaches: one uses his own earmarks mostly for relatively small local projects, the other one has a number of multi-million defense earmarks for projects in the district. The overall story and associated charts and graphics also gave readers a much better understanding of how this process works."

The Lynchburg newspaper was one of at least seven in Virginia that participated. "Richmond area's 3 congressmen have differing views on earmarks," the Richmond Times-Dispatch said, and the Culpeper Star-Exponent quoted a representative who has sworn off earmarks.

From the Northwest, The Olympian in Washington State headlined its story: "Earmarks help South Sound in surprising ways" and added: "The result: A new world of lobbyists for local interests." Across the country, The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa., asked: "Are congressional earmarks vital spending or fat?" It offered a Q&A.

As these and other newspapers noted, earmarks are called both useful, because they can bring needed money to local projects, and wasteful, because they are often political.

"You decide," the Concord (N.H.) Monitor suggested to its readers.