This is the email response readers are getting when they complain to Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Editor George Stanley:
We didn't change any headline due to pressure from any politician and we never would. That is the product of a blogger's imagination. It's no different than the stories cooked up by conservative talk radio hosts who say we slant the news to get Barrett elected.
The jobs numbers ARE controversial right now. We're going to continue to dig out why. If these have been reasonably reliable indicators in the past, why not now? We're told that while the BLS survey does a decent job at the national level, there aren't enough collection sites at the state level to be accurate. That may be due to federal budget cuts in recent years -- we're trying to find out.
Stay tuned.
-George Stanley
Wow. It sure is unusual that the Journal-Sentinel just suddenly and by their own volition decided to explore the validitly of the BLS monthly jobs survey-- just two weeks before the first recall election in Wisconsin history. The same jobs report that they've been reporting on for the last 30+ years without the slightest interest in their validity. The same one that had no problem touting when it showed Wisconsin gaining jobs under Walker and losing jobs under Doyle.
Here's the bottomline, George: There is no evidence that BLS jobs survey has ever been significantly different than the actual jobs numbers. Ever. Further, if you're going to report on Walker's more-favorable sandbox numbers, then let your readers know that even using those numbers, Wisconsin is still dead last job growth.