Reporters and other members of the media have donated at least $110,000 to candidates and parties in the upcoming election, with over 90% going to Democrats including, Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, according to a new deep-dive report.
"Journalists at The New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, and Houston Chronicle are among dozens of reporters, editors, and other newspeople who've given tens of thousands of dollars to political candidates and causes," said the report headlined, "Meet 39 journalists who made political contributions. They're among dozens who've together given at least $110,000 mostly to 2020 Democrats, including Biden, Bernie, and AOC."
And there could be significantly more media money to federal-level campaigns, according to the first part in a series by campaign finance expert and Business Insider reporter Dave Levinthal.
He wrote, “Because FEC contribution data contains omissions and errors, and Insider could not definitively confirm some contributions attributed in public records to journalists, the number is likely higher than $110,000.”
The report names some names and shows how some major outfits have squirmed when presented with Federal Election Commission reports that staffers have contributed to candidates.
It also comes as some in the media are under fire for ignoring or disparaging the influence-peddling scandal hitting members of the Biden family and accepting the former vice president's efforts to limit access to reporters.
The donations noted in the article are from 43 media members with, or associated with, outlets including:
- CNN
- Fox
- Washington Post
- Los Angeles Times
- Hill
- Washington Times
- Intercept
- Mother Jones
- New York Post
- New York Times
- New York Magazine
- Boston Globe
- Houston Chronicle
- ProPublica
- McClatchy
- Bloomberg
- Business Insider
Those were just for large amounts. Contributions of $200 or less do not require detailed FEC reporting.
Some media members scheduled monthly donations, according to the report, though, it added, the vast majority of reporters and staffers do not make any contributions.
Many media outlets frown on donations, and some have policies against it. Levinthal, for example, noted that the Hill and the Los Angeles Times have reprimanded staffers for making contributions.
And some media donations do not parallel the assumed politics of the organization the staffers work for. For example, he found donations from a Fox and New York Post staffer to Democrats.
A former Fox staffer, who worked for the network while she gave donations to Sanders, wrote on them, “‘I hate them’ or ‘I f------ hate my life’ after listing Fox as her employer in FEC documents,” according to the report.