Investigative Journalism: Federal stimulus money and the wine train project

EDITOR’S NOTE: The article “Federal stimulus program pours $54 million into Wine Train project” by Lance Williams is an example of investigative journalism. This following post is an analysis of why it is considered to be an investigative piece.

The “wine train” article about the federal stimulus program is investigative because it is not only an overview of federal stimulus money; it also looks into where the money is going and why.

The reporter, Lance Williams, is concerned about why $54 million is being put into a wine train project. A project that was called silly by people such as U.S. Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla.

This project, which was said would help the economy and create jobs, has only produced 12 jobs according to reports released by the construction company Suulutaaq. While this is out of the ordinary, it is also strange that an Alaska-based construction company would win the bid to build a bridge in the Napa Valley in California. Williams said that this could be due to Alaskan natives gaining “special access to federal contracts.”

Williams gave the officials at Suulutaaq an opportunity to state their side of the story, but they declined to answer most of the questions.

This information was stated in the article:

Suulutaaq officials declined to be interviewed. In response to written questions, the company issued a statement saying that taxpayers were getting a “fair and reasonable” price on the project. The statement said that although Boyle lacked “specific construction experience,” he had “invaluable business experience” to make the Napa project a success.


But the company declined to answer most questions about the project, saying the information was confidential. It rebuffed a query about whether Suulutaaq employed lobbyists by asserting that the question “has potential undertones of a race-based presumption.”

The reporter, Lance Williams, points to the federal stimulus plan as his key document, which allowed for $54 million to be put into the wine train project. Williams also gives figures from a report that was provided by the Suulutaaq construction company.

There are no graphics or pictures to accompany the story. On the main page of the Web site there was an image of a train, but that did nothing to further the story. It was just there for aesthetic purposes.

The article for this story was published in California Watch, so the main people interested in this story would be the citizens of California. There would also be interest in Alaska and South Carolina, because the shareholders, according to Williams, are in Alaska and the CEO is from South Carolina. While these people would have the most interest in the story, the attention of the general public would also be gained because they would want to know what the federal stimulus money is being spent on.

William’s article is broken up into four parts and is lengthy. The headline is not harsh though. It reads like any other typical headline which states some facts to gain the reader’s attention. With that being said, there is a harsh tone to the article.

It seems like this article was either a follow-up on where the federal stimulus money was going or it was a project idea.

If you would like to read William's "wine train" article, it can be viewed here:
California Watch: Federal stimulus program pours $54 million into Wine Train project