{
  "id": "1995-july-scan-for-the-facts",
  "slug": "1995-july-scan-for-the-facts",
  "url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/1995-july-scan-for-the-facts.html",
  "year": 1995,
  "month": "July",
  "monthNum": 7,
  "headline": "Scan for the facts",
  "kicker": "Milking campaign funds",
  "author_name": "Rich Eggleston",
  "author_title": "",
  "affiliation": "Associated Press",
  "summary": "The Associated Press Wisconsin bureau used optical scanning technology and custom software to convert paper campaign finance reports into an electronic database, enabling computer-assisted reporting on political fundraising that would have been impractical to analyze manually. The successful project led to the creation of CampaignWatch, a company that sells the scanning and data entry package.",
  "keywords": [
    "scanning",
    "fundraising",
    "database"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Investigative Methods",
    "Government & Politics",
    "Data & Databases"
  ],
  "technologies": [
    "R:BASE",
    "DataPen",
    "FoxPro"
  ],
  "full_text": "The Associated Press bureau in Wisconsin showed that the lack of an electronic database is no obstacle to good computer-assisted reporting.\n\nThe bureau wanted to track campaign fundraising by Gov. Tommy Thompson and other state politicians. Wisconsin, like some other states, does not store that electronically, it only requires candidates to file on paper. The longer reports - like Thompson's almost defy manual analysis.\n\nOur solution: a scanner.\n\nWe took the step last year, after Nick Schiavo, a former Air Force computer expert, asked how a computer could solve problems with government records. I told him about campaign reports, and how few news organizations spend the time or money inputting the information.\n\nSchiavo believes the latest scanning technology is faster and more accurate than punching it in. He wrote a program to accommodate the state forms. He customized optical character recognition and data entry systems. Microsoft and Microrim R:BASE software runs the programs. He scanned in the first reports using DataPen, a hand-held scanner, but later ones were scanned in more efficiently with a sheet-fed scanned. He dumped the information into FoxPro. The endeavor went so well that Schiavo created his own small company, CampaignWatch, which sells the package.\n\nEach computerized record included the page number from the paper report. We traced back anything that looked funny. The scanner did turn one $1,200 contribution into a $120,000 contribution, but we used the page number to catch the error. There were typos, but the product was remarkably accurate. When one male contributor was listed in the database as a housewife, we went back to the paper records and found nothing wrong - the campaign listed him that way.\n\nOur bureau produced stories on business executives backing the incumbent, and a challenger relying on support from one county. We also examined cross-giving to both candidates. I found contributions timed with a special legislative session that loosened state telecommunications regulation, and noted how accountants and builders said \"Thank You\" with their checkbooks for laws that benefited their professions.\n\nSchiavo plans to upgrade his package as optical scanning equipment improves. Some fonts are too difficult to scan in, and handwritten documents are still too tough. He is also starting to cross-reference the state contribution data with Federal Election Commission records. As our governor pushes legislation for the next four years, I'll keep checking his moves against the list of political I.O.U.'s in my hard drive. Send e-mail to Rich Eggleston at richeggl@ix.netcom.com",
  "provenance": {
    "extracted_by": "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6",
    "extracted_at": "2026-07-05",
    "verified": true
  },
  "similar": [
    {
      "slug": "1993-january-read-this-before-scanning-text",
      "score": 0.3
    },
    {
      "slug": "1991-november-scanners-may-eliminate-data-entry-problems",
      "score": 0.179
    },
    {
      "slug": "1994-august-how-to-negotiate-for-campaign-data",
      "score": 0.144
    },
    {
      "slug": "2000-october-the-story",
      "score": 0.143
    },
    {
      "slug": "1999-januaryfebruary-searching-for-influence",
      "score": 0.14
    }
  ],
  "html_url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/1995-july-scan-for-the-facts.html",
  "json_url": "https://dwillis.github.io/uplink/article/1995-july-scan-for-the-facts.json"
}