I expected more of a hit-piece from Richard Goldstein, the executive editor of the Village Voice who's writing their Press Clips column these days, on me and my recent looks at political giving by media personalities, but on balance, I like what he wrote. Although he adopts a dismissive tone, Goldstein nonetheless calls attention to the issue of media transparency.
There is one part of his column that needs addressing. Goldstein berates me for not having research and posted data on the following conservative pundits: Tucker Carlson, Robert Novak, George Will and William F. Buckley.
Guess it wasn't good enough that as a one-man operation, I spent the time looking at FEC and state campaign finance disclosure forms on dozens and dozens of reporters and outlets, in Goldstein's eyes. He was interested in those columnists and any giving they may have done. Fair enough.
But Goldstein doesn't explain why he couldn't find half an hour to visit tray.com and look at the columnists' files himself. Or assign an intern or two from the Village Voice to do so.
Granted, my method and scope in this personal project of mine isn't perfect, thoroughly comprehensive or scientific.
However, the Village Voice does possess the resources necessary to perform better research on the columnists' campaign donations. Heck, so does Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, Accuracy in Media, the Columbia Journalism Review, the Poynter Institute, et al., but instead of nudging them to get cracking at investigating such donations, Goldstein chides me, as if I have the resources to carry out the kind of research _he_ wants.
Since Goldstein couldn't be bothered to examine donations by those opinion writers, and the president and publisher of Buckley's National Review, I did it for him. Took all of thirty minutes, including looking at records from California.
First of all, going back to 1980, no donations showed up for Novak, Will and Thomas. Only one contribution turned up for Carlson.
Secondly, looking only at giving by Buckley and colleagues in the current federal election cycle, they've done quite a bit of checkwriting. Of course, they've done much more giving in other elections, but sharing that data in this post would make it as long as "Anna Karenna." As always, you can find all of the federal donations from Carlson, Buckley and crew at tray.com.
Third, they all donated to conservative politicians and PACs.
And if you, or Goldstein want to research state campaign finance disclosures, check out this site, which lists the links to such sites.
Goldstein's column appears below after some data on Carlson, Buckley and his colleagues.
^^^
BUCKLEY, JR. WILLIAM F. MR. JR., NATIONAL REVIEW, EDITOR, STAMFORD, CT 06902
SIMON FOR GOVERNOR, BILL, ID#1233478
$2,000.00
5/23/2001
SIMON FOR GOVERNOR, BILL, ID#1233478
$2,000.00
5/28/2002
SIMON FOR GOVERNOR, BILL, ID#1233478
$500.00
1/31/2002
RHODES THOMAS L. MR., NATIONAL REVIEW, PRESIDENT, NEW YORK, NY 10016
SIMON FOR GOVERNOR, BILL, ID#1233478
$25,000.00
5/29/2002
SIMON FOR GOVERNOR, BILL, ID#1233478
$2,500.00
2/13/2002
(Source: CA campaign disclosures)
FEDERAL DONATIONS
CARLSON, TUCKER S
3/22/1995 $1,000.00
ALEXANDRIA, VA 22314
THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION -[Contribution]
ALEXANDER FOR PRESIDENT INC
Buckley, William F. Mr. Jr.
6/12/2000 $500.00
Stamford, CT 06902
National Review/Author/Editor -[Contribution]
BUSH FOR PRESIDENT INC
BUCKLEY, WILLIAM F. MR. JR.
6/24/2002 $200.00
STAMFORD, CT 06902
NATIONAL REVIEW/EDITOR -[Contribution]
NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE CONTRIBUTIONS
Buckley, William F. Mr. Jr.
10/4/2002 $250.00
New York, NY 10016
National Review/Editor-At-Large -[Contribution]
NATIONAL CONSERVATIVE CAMPAIGN FUND
Buckley Jr., William F.
10/13/2003 $250.00
Stamford, CT 06902
National Review/Editor at Large -[earmarked contribution]
JOHN SWALLOW FOR CONGRESS INC.
Buckley, William
3/26/2004 $250.00
Stamford, CT 06902
National Review/Editor -[Contribution]
CHRISTOPHER SHAYS FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE
Buckley, William
6/29/2004 $500.00
Stamford, CT 06902
National Review -[Contribution]
CHRISTOPHER SHAYS FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE
BUCKLEY, WILLIAM F MR. JR.
12/31/2003 $2,500.00
Stamford, CT 06902
National Review/Editor At Large -[Contribution]
NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE
Buckley, William F Mr. Jr.
3/24/2004 $500.00
New York, NY 10016
National Review Inc/Writer -[Contribution]
REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE
Buckley, William F. Jr. Mr.
10/17/2003 $250.00
Stamford, CT 06902
National Review/Editor at Large -[Contribution]
WESTMORELAND FOR CONGRESS
CAPANO, EDWARD A MR.
5/12/2004 $1,000.00
WESTFIELD, NJ 07090
NATIONAL REVIEW/PUBLISHER -[Contribution]
BUSH-CHENEY '04 INC
Rhodes, Thomas
5/27/2004 $5,000.00
New York, NY 10016
National Review/President -[earmarked intermediary out]
CLUB FOR GROWTH INC PAC
Rhodes, Thomas
6/5/2003 $2,000.00
New York, NY 10016
National Review/President -[earmarked intermediary out]
CLUB FOR GROWTH INC PAC
Rhodes, Thomas
5/27/2004 $2,000.00
New York, NY 10016
National Review/President -[earmarked intermediary out]
CLUB FOR GROWTH INC PAC
Rhodes, Thomas
2/6/2004 $2,000.00
New York, NY 10016
National Review/President -[earmarked intermediary out]
CLUB FOR GROWTH INC PAC
Rhodes, Thomas
2/6/2004 $2,000.00
New York, NY 10016
National Review/President -[earmarked intermediary out]
CLUB FOR GROWTH INC PAC
Rhodes, Thomas
3/15/2004 $1,000.00
New York, NY 10016
National Review/President -[earmarked intermediary out]
CLUB FOR GROWTH INC PAC
Rhodes, Thomas
5/19/2004 $2,000.00
New York, NY 10016
National Review/President -[earmarked intermediary out]
CLUB FOR GROWTH INC PAC
Rhodes, Thomas
5/27/2004 $2,000.00
New York, NY 10016
National Review/President -[earmarked intermediary out]
CLUB FOR GROWTH INC PAC
Rhodes, Thomas
3/12/2003 $2,000.00
New York, NY 10016
National Review/President -[earmarked intermediary out]
CLUB FOR GROWTH INC PAC
RHODES, THOMAS
6/13/2003 $2,000.00
NEW YORK, NY 10016
NATIONAL REVIEW -[Contribution]
PRO-GROWTH ACTION TEAM (PAT-PAC)
RHODES, THOMAS
3/24/2003 $2,000.00
NEW YORK, NY 10016
NATIONAL REVIEW -[Contribution]
PRO-GROWTH ACTION TEAM (PAT-PAC)
Rhodes, Thomas
5/19/2004 $5,000.00
New York, NY 10016
National Review/President -[Contribution]
CLUB FOR GROWTH INC PAC
Rhodes, Thomas
11/21/2003 $5,000.00
New York, NY 10016
National Review/President -[Contribution]
CLUB FOR GROWTH INC PAC
RHODES, THOMAS
6/8/2004 $2,000.00
NEW YORK, NY 10016
NATIONAL REVIEW -[Contribution]
COBURN FOR SENATE COMMITTEE
Rhodes, Thomas
5/27/2004 $2,000.00
New York, NY 10016
National Review/President -[earmarked intermediary out]
CLUB FOR GROWTH INC PAC
Rhodes, Thomas
5/27/2004 $2,000.00
New York, NY 10016
National Review/President -[earmarked intermediary out]
CLUB FOR GROWTH INC PAC
Rhodes, Thomas
6/15/2004 $2,000.00
New York, NY 10016
National Review/President -[earmarked intermediary out]
CLUB FOR GROWTH INC PAC
Rhodes, Thomas
5/19/2004 $2,000.00
New York, NY 10016
National Review/President -[earmarked intermediary out]
CLUB FOR GROWTH INC PAC
Rhodes, Thomas
11/28/2003 $2,000.00
New York, NY 10016
National Review/President -[Contribution]
JOHN SWALLOW FOR CONGRESS INC.
Rhodes, Thomas
3/17/2003 $2,000.00
New York, NY 10016
National Review/president -[Contribution]
CARL ISETT CAMPAIGN
RHODES, THOMAS
5/24/2004 $2,000.00
NEW YORK, NY 10016
NATIONAL REVIEW -[Contribution]
CAIN FOR US SENATE
Rhodes, Thomas
2/11/2004 $2,000.00
New York, NY 10016
National Review/President -[earmarked contribution]
RICO OLLER FOR CONGRESS
Rhodes, Thomas
5/25/2004 $2,000.00
New York, NY 10016
National Review/president -[Contribution]
FRIENDS OF CONNIE MACK
Rhodes, Thomas
2/9/2004 $2,000.00
New York, NY 10016
National Review/President -[earmarked contribution]
WOHLGEMUTH FOR CONGRESS
Rhodes, Thomas
3/22/2004 $1,000.00
New York, NY 10016
National Review/President -[earmarked contribution]
WOHLGEMUTH FOR CONGRESS
Rhodes, Thomas
3/12/2003 $2,000.00
New York, NY 10016
National Review/President -[earmarked intermediary out]
CLUB FOR GROWTH INC PAC
Rhodes, Thomas Mr.
11/28/2003 $2,000.00
New York, NY 10016
National Review/President -[Contribution]
WESTMORELAND FOR CONGRESS
- - -
The Village Voice
July 28, 2004
Dust Raking
by Richard Goldstein
There are no rules in American journalism. Each publication sets its own standards, and that's how the Founding Parents wanted it. Some places permit reporters or editors to donate to campaigns; others do not. (The Voice has no policy.) I've always regarded my writing as my contribution, a philosophy that has saved me some cash and embarrassment over the years. But it doesn't affect the way I think. I'd be a godless faggot leftie whether or not I forked over a few bucks to the Girlie Men—i.e., Democrats.
On the Internet, however, every caesura is silence = death. Lately blogland has been aghast at the shock-horror news that some journos have been giving money to candidates. It all began about four months ago, when Michael Petrelis, a militant AIDS activist whose work has sometimes been useful and sometimes not, began poring over records via an info site called tray.com. What he discovered has persuaded a number of media outfits to come clean about their protocols on political donating.
That's good. The more readers know about the internal operations of the press, the better. Thanks to Petrelis, The New York Times reiterated its no-giving rule and noted that several generous staffers were "highly contrite" when confronted with his findings. But they still have their jobs. The San Francisco Chronicle suspended its letters editor for making contributions in violation of the paper's policy (i.e., journalists must consult a top editor before they bestow).
Some of Petrelis's disclosures are surprising. I would have thought PBS staffers donate mostly to Democrats, but Petrelis reports that they give about equally to both parties. Still, what is this revelation really worth? It doesn't tell us anything about PBS's political and social bias. That network tilts liberal, not withstanding Tucker Carlson's new show (a wan attempt to channel William F. Buckley with better hair). I'm not surprised that National Public Radio employees overwhelmingly give to Democrats, but that doesn't change the fact that NPR favors conservative guests, as demonstrated by a recent Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting study. In other words, you can't make assumptions about an institution's politics from the spending of its staff.
"I don't want publishers saying their reporters can't make donations," Petrelis insists. Instead, he thinks newspapers and magazines should state their policies "on their websites and have a page that permanently gives you disclosure information. You can make up your own mind if there was any sort of political bias." Sounds reasonable—but what would you actually learn from that information? Is a reporter who gives to a candidate incapable of objectivity? Is a journalist who doesn't give incapable of bias?
The Nation would be the same font of progressive thinking even if its editor, Katrina vanden Heuvel, hadn't donated a lot of money to assorted Democrats, as Petrelis discovered. Nor would New Yorker executive editor Hendrik Hertzberg, another Petrelis target, be less liberal if he weren't a Kerry donor. (After all, Hertzberg was a speechwriter for Jimmy Carter in another life.) So where's the muck?
When she was editor of the Voice, Karen Durbin called this kind of journalism "dust raking." It treats any infraction, no matter how minor, as proof of big-time corruption. All readers remember is that someone they didn't like in the first place has done something wrong. It doesn't take much to convince most people that the press is a fen of liberal bias, and that may be a perception Petrelis means to reinforce. Most of the journos he's selected for scrutiny are liberals. Robert Novak, George Will, Cal Thomas, and the aforementioned Tucker C. are all among the prominent conservative writers he has yet to investigate. William F. Buckley has made "tons of donations," according to Petrelis, but this sleuth has yet to post the evidence. "I was primarily focused on daily newspapers," he says. That doesn't account for his obsession with vanden Heuvel and Hertzberg.
It's not surprising, since Petrelis is an out and proud Naderite. Like his hero, he seems to believe the worst enemy is the one closest to him. Blogland is full of people like that. In the wake of Petrelis's crusade, davidM at blogspot.com has discovered that an "astonishing 92 percent" of donations from Ivy League academics went to Kerry. Could've fooled me.
What next? Easter Parade Reporter Won't Accept Jesus?
Reports, proud muckraking, photos, videos and musings from the veteran LGBT and AIDS human rights advocate Michael Petrelis. Based in San Francisco since 1995. Contact: MPetrelis_at_AOL_dot_com. Vote Petrelis for BART Board District 9 in November!
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