Sunday, Jan. 18, 2004
Journalists Giving Money to Politicians
Over 100 journalists and media executives the public expects to be nonpartisan political observers have been opening their wallets to make political contributions.
And their giving goes right across the board from left to right and from Democrats to Republicans, according to the Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz, who reports that such media figures as NBC's top executive, a Fox News anchor and reporters or editors for the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, CBS and ABC have all kicked in to political coffers.
A Post examination of Federal Election Commission records for the past five years showed that many of the contributors were violating their own company rules. But the rules vary widely, Kurtz added, noting that some media firms "allow political donations, others bar them for newsroom employees but not business staffers, and still others restrict only those covering politics."
Among those Kurtz cited:
NBC chief executive Robert Wright, who made $8,000 in political contributions since 1999, including $3,500 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and $1,000 to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
A former NBC News chief, Andrew Lack, "gave $1,000 to Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.) while NBC president, and Wright contributed $1,500 – after the House committee Tauzin chairs held hearings on the networks' election night failures." Kurtz noted that NBC spokeswoman Allison Gollust told him that her network permits its executives to make contributions and added that Wright "does not make any decisions specific to news coverage."
Fox managing editor for business Neil Cavuto gave $1,000 to a fund-raising dinner for President Bush in 2002, something that didn’t elate Fox.
"I wish he hadn't," Fox News Vice President John Moody, who responded by circulating a policy Friday that discourages such contributions. "I hope our people will follow the advice I've given to them voluntarily. The potential perception is that they favor one candidate over the other." But he told Kurtz he wouldn't ban the practice.
Griffin Jenkins, a Fox producer for Oliver North,, gave $2,000 to the Bush-Cheney re-election committee, and Melanie Kirkpatrick, associate editor of the Wall Street Journal's editorial page, gave a whopping $20,000 to the Republican National Committee along with another $1,000 to Bush's 2000 presidential campaign.
WSJ editorial page editor Paul Gigot told Kurtz there are no prohibitions for those on the opinion side of the newspaper and that Kirkpatrick had obtained permission from his predecessor, the late Robert Bartley. But Gigot added that he’d advise against such political giving.
At Kurtz’s own Washington Post, business reporter Albert Crenshaw gave $500 to Maryland Democratic House candidate Ira Shapiro in 2001. Crenshaw explained that his wife made the donation before he told her that he was not allowed to make such contributions. Post sportswriter Mark Asher gave $500 to Illinois Democratic House candidate Pete Dagher in 2002. He said his wife had worked with Dagher in the Clinton White House. Post
Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. told Kurtz he planned to discuss the matter with the reporters' editors. "You can't make political contributions at all," he said, citing the paper's policy.
Correspondent Jami Floyd of ABC’s "20/20," who covered the Florida recount in the last presidential election, gave $500 to the Democratic National Committee in 2000. Other ABC givers included producer Clark Bentson, who gave $250 to New Jersey Democratic House candidate Tim Carden.
But ABC News spokesman Jeffrey Schneider told Kurtz that all donations are barred, "to maintain our professional reputation for fairness and impartiality." He said that "we've already communicated" with those who donated, "and everyone in the division understands the importance of rules like this."
Troy Roberts, a correspondent for CBS's "48 Hours," donated $1,000 to Hillary Rodham Clinton's Senate campaign, as did Emily Senay, medical correspondent for CBS's "Early Show." Kurtz explained that CBS News does not restrict contributions. "There is a vast system of checks and balances before anything gets on the air," spokeswoman Sandy Genelius told Kurtz.
Paul Begala, a former Clinton White House aide and co-host of CNN's "Crossfire," donated $2,000 to Democratic congressional candidates. CNN reporter Mike Boettcher gave $1,000 to his brother's Democratic Senate campaign .
USA Today’s Richard Willing gave $500 to Howard Dean's presidential campaign, USA Today’s consumer reporter Jayne O'Donnell gave Dean $250 and food writer Jerry Shriver donated $1,000 to John Kerry's presidential effort.
Kurtz reports that the New York Times’ Barry Bearak gave $250 to a Green Party Senate candidate, and travel writer Betsy Wade gave $383 to a Democratic House candidate. Business reporter Karen Arenson said her husband's $1,000 donation to Hillary Clinton was mistakenly reported in her name. Music critic John Rockwell, a former arts editor, gave $2,000 to Clinton in 2000.
Also listed by Kurtz as political givers were Wall Street Journal technology columnist Walter Mossberg, who gave $3,000 to Democrat Shapiro; reporter Laura Landro gave $1,000 to Bradley; Los Angeles Times food writer Charles Perry gave the Republican Party $2,550; Janet Kaye, a part-time member of the paper's polling unit, gave $450 to Dean, and former Times Mirror general counsel William Niese put more than $10,000 in Republican Party coffers.
Time publishing reporter Andrea Sachs gave $1,000 to a Democratic House candidate. At Newsweek, then-Moscow bureau chief William Powell Jr. gave $1,000 to McCain, and then-publisher Carolyn Wall donated $1,000 to Bradley.
Writes Kurtz, "Such donations raise difficult questions: Do employees of news organizations give up certain civic rights? Or, in an age when polls show growing public perceptions of media bias, should the appearance of siding with a candidate or party be avoided at all costs?"
"A good rule of thumb," Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism told Kurtz, "is, if this were known publicly, would it cause the audience to have doubt about the credibility of this person's coverage?" That, he said, is often "a judgment call."
Editor's note:
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Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Media Bias
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