Chief political reporter, William March, from the Tampa Tribune came to our class to discuss campaign finances and contributions. At one point, I felt like were were solving a mystery. His reporting looks beyond the surface and reveals the truth behind campaign contributions.
March explained that soft money is money given to a political party where you have no contribution limit. He used Mark Jimenez from Future Tech as an example. It was found that he and members of his company were donating soft money to Bill Clinton's campaign. Innocent enough. Except, March discovered that none of these people had donated before, were registered voters, and had not voted in past elections, so why were they donating money all of a sudden? Questions arose about a possible scam on Jiminez' behalf. This became a story.
March uses different websites to research voters and campaign finances: Opensecrets.org, maplight.org, CQMoneyline, and the Florida Division of Elections website, which he uses the most.
March says that anyone who makes a federal contribution is required to report their occupation/ employer. This is how March found out about Jimenez and his company/ co-workers. March says he spends a lot of time looking for information before actually finding it. Patience and the ability to be thorough in research is key for good reporters.
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