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journalists give to campaigns - 6/21/2007 4:12:39 PM

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BOSTON - A CNN reporter gave $500 to John Kerry's campaign the same month he was embedded with the U.S. Army in Iraq. An assistant managing editor at Forbes magazine not only sent $2,000 to Republicans, but also volunteers as a director of an ExxonMobil-funded group that questions global warming. A junior editor at Dow Jones Newswires gave $1,036 to the liberal group MoveOn.org and keeps a blog listing "people I don't like," starting with George Bush, Pat Robertson, the Christian Coalition, the NRA and corporate America ("these are the people who are really in charge").

Whether you sample your news feed from ABC or CBS (or, yes, even NBC and MSNBC), whether you prefer Fox News Channel or National Public Radio, The Wall Street Journal or The New Yorker, some of the journalists feeding you are also feeding cash to politicians, parties or political action committees.

MSNBC.com identified 144 journalists who made political contributions from 2004 through the start of the 2008 campaign, according to the public records of the Federal Election Commission. Most of the newsroom checkbooks leaned to the left: 125 journalists gave to Democrats and liberal causes. Only 17 gave to Republicans. Two gave to both parties.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19113485

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RE: journalists give to campaigns - 6/21/2007 4:19:08 PM

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So what. Does being a journalist mean you don't have the right to contribute to whatever politician or group you want? Don't journalists have the same rights as anybody else?

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RE: journalists give to campaigns - 6/21/2007 4:21:37 PM

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Questioning their objectivity is not the same thing as denying them their rights. Repeat after me: Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from criticism.

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RE: journalists give to campaigns - 6/21/2007 5:34:44 PM

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I just read that article about 10 minutes ago. The worst part was that I wasn't shocked.

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RE: journalists give to campaigns - 6/21/2007 5:39:49 PM

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quote:

ORIGINAL: cjenny

I just read that article about 10 minutes ago. The worst part was that I wasn't shocked.

Stop the presses! I heard a rumor that 100% of journalists who vote tend to vote for members of a political party in most elections! It's shocking! Shocking I tells ya!

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RE: journalists give to campaigns - 6/21/2007 5:40:53 PM

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Voting & campaign donations are not the same thing.

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RE: journalists give to campaigns - 6/21/2007 5:43:23 PM

selfbnd411

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quote:

ORIGINAL: cjenny

Voting & campaign donations are not the same thing.

They're both expressions of an individual's rights as a citizen. Journalists are citizens too.

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RE: journalists give to campaigns - 6/21/2007 5:55:24 PM

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...and Level.....how much did the CEO's etc of those same media groups give to political parties or entities, and what was the breakdown in party allegiance? Who, for instance, does Rupert Murdoch favour, and how much cash does he make available one way or another?

i'd be surprised if a) the cash amount didn't outweigh the donations of individual journalists by a country mile and b) if the democrat/republican ratio wasn't heavily skewed in the other direction.

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RE: journalists give to campaigns - 6/21/2007 6:26:04 PM

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quote:

ORIGINAL: philosophy

...and Level.....how much did the CEO's etc of those same media groups give to political parties or entities, and what was the breakdown in party allegiance? Who, for instance, does Rupert Murdoch favour, and how much cash does he make available one way or another?

i'd be surprised if a) the cash amount didn't outweigh the donations of individual journalists by a country mile and b) if the democrat/republican ratio wasn't heavily skewed in the other direction.

If donations from CEOs outpace the journalists, would it be reasonable to think that it's due to there being more cash to give? And someone help me out, isn't there limits on giving? I know there may be loopholes, but I don't know much about it.

phil, and everyone: how objective do you think the media is? Should they strive to be objective?

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RE: journalists give to campaigns - 6/21/2007 7:39:11 PM

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Level

quote:

ORIGINAL: philosophy

...and Level.....how much did the CEO's etc of those same media groups give to political parties or entities, and what was the breakdown in party allegiance? Who, for instance, does Rupert Murdoch favour, and how much cash does he make available one way or another?

i'd be surprised if a) the cash amount didn't outweigh the donations of individual journalists by a country mile and b) if the democrat/republican ratio wasn't heavily skewed in the other direction.

If donations from CEOs outpace the journalists, would it be reasonable to think that it's due to there being more cash to give? And someone help me out, isn't there limits on giving? I know there may be loopholes, but I don't know much about it.

phil, and everyone: how objective do you think the media is? Should they strive to be objective?

....absolutely agreed on the objectivity point. As for the CEO's getting round donation limits, well tht's what wel-paid accountants are for. My point was that even if all the journalists stopped donating today, those same media outlets would still be skewed if the CEO's still donate, and as they probably donate a lot more, their voices get heard a lot louder.
Whose point of view is more likely to become policy; someone who donates $2000, or someone who donates $2,000,000?
i agree there's an issue here, but the real meat of the matter lies a lot further up....

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RE: journalists give to campaigns - 6/21/2007 9:37:40 PM

Lordandmaster

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Journalists who GIVE to politicians are a lot less of a problem, in my view, than journalists who are PAID by them.

As in this lovely story:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_km4462/is_200609/ai_n16995997

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