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Using Microsoft Word to keep government accountable

It’s nice to see journalists used advanced Microsoft Word skills to keep government officials and politicians on their toes.

CBC News, Canada received an early copy of a Manitoba government report on mental health.  The final report was officially released a few hours later.

The smart reporters at CBC compared the two reports to see if there were any differences.  Maybe they used Word’s PDF import and conversion feature to make the two Word documents.

Microsoft Word’s Compare Documents feature is on the Review Tab.

CBC News found 210 differences but most were either formatting changes or sections added then restored.

They did find an important change.  A controversial proposal for a safe injecting room was deleted from the public report.

It’s quick, easy and keeps our elected officials under scrutiny.  It’s not the first time Word has been used to ‘keep them honest’ but usually it’s the Track Changes feature that trips people.  Paul Manafort in 2017 or a US Senate submission in 2005

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