The AP reporter was contacting donors and fishing for quotes; after they all told him to bugger off, I expect he went wherever he could find the quote he was looking for. Why report the news when you can go out of your way to make it?
Oh, come on. There are plenty of people talking about how they won't give money to wikipedia because of this -- just go to digg or reddit and you'll see far harsher slams voted into the stratosphere. Plus, the AP article also closes with an opposing view:
"So far, the project's core supporters appear forgiving.
Philip Greenspun, a computer scientist who recently gave the foundation $20,000, said he wasn't surprised the foundation would stumble on a background check, something that "isn't core to their mission."
"I would be more dismayed," he said, "by a lengthy server outage.""