Hell Bound, Matt Sesow, 2008

Presumably, the whole world wanted to know who actually did get the most votes. It would make a great and important story. But getting the truth was too time consuming and expensive for any single news organization, so a consortium was formed. It consisted of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Tribune Company, The Washington Post, The Associated Press, The St. Petersburg Times, The Palm Beach Post and CNN.

It took almost a year and cost over a million dollars.

All the news organizations had the same information: Al Gore got more legal, countable votes than George Bush.

Here are the headlines:

The Wall Street Journal: “Bush Wins Without Supreme Court Help,”

Los Angeles Times: “Bush Still Had Votes to Win in a Recount, Study Finds.”

The Washington Post: “Florida Recounts Would Have Favored Bush”

CNN.com: “Florida Recount Study: Bush Still Wins.”

The New York Times: “Study of Disputed Florida Ballots Finds Justices Did Not Cast the Deciding Vote.”

The St. Petersburg Times: “Recount: Bush.”