[pol] In 50 publications, not a single reporter donated to Bush

Troke

On TB every waking moment
http://www.mpetrelis.blogspot.com/2004_07_15_mpetrelis_archive.html#108993629656421197

American reporters are supposed to be impartial and nonpartisan, above the

fray of politics and campaigns.






After researching Federal Election Commission records for New York Times

editorial staff back in the spring, I discovered the paper's reporters had

donated a healthy sum of money to candidates, primarily Democrats, over the

years. Some of the New York Times reporters' donations were made after the paper

instituted a policy prohibiting such contributions, while the bulk of the

donations were made prior to the ban. (You can find these donations elsewhere on my blog.)


Today I went back to the best web site for searching FEC files, http://www.tray.com/,

and pored over recent donations by journalists, reporters, publishers and

others who work at print media outlets.



I limited my searching to the two most recent election cycles, except for

Time and Newsweek, and Rupert Murdoch, because of the influence each

wields.


More than fifty newspapers, magazines, wire services, and names of

publishers, were searched.


Wish I could say I was surprised at how many media people have donated to

Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic National Committee, or Democratic candidates,

but I can't.


I'm don't know if any of these publications or news services have policies

barring political contributions, and if they do, then journalistic ethics are

being violated. If publications lack such prohibitions, now might be a good time

for the outlets to consider implementing such a policy.


In no particular order of importance, here are the highlights of what I

found, in my unscientific survey:



- Rupert Murdoch donated $2,000 to Kerry's Senatorial campaign in 2001;

and he gave Sen. Ted Kennedy $1,000 in 1999.


- New Yorker senior editor Hendrik Hertzberg, gave Kerry's presidential

campaign $900, a fact I don't think he has disclosed in the magazine.


- Martin Peretz, editor in chief of The New Republic, donated $2,000 to

Kerry in February.


- Former Vermont governor Howard Dean was the second-top recipient of

reporters' dollars.



- President George Bush didn't receive a single donation from any outlet or

reporter in my search.



- The one donation from a Wall Street Journal writer this year, Henny

Sender, was for $300 for Kerry.



- Ralph Nader received only $1,200 from one person; Helga Halaki of Time

magazine's editorial side.


In an ideal world, reporters would refrain from donating to politicians and

campaigns, but until that world is created, the least we can expect from media

people is full disclosure about their policies on contributions, and informing

readers when donations are made.



For myself, I'm disclosing again my support for Nader and that I made a $10

contribution to his campaign in the spring.



Now, here are the search results of my informal survey. The list is broken

down by alphabetically by media outlet.

continued on link.

A good reason no reporter donated to Bush is that he does not read their work. So why support somebody who undercuts your job?
 
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