Petrelis Files

NYT'ers Donations: Obama the Clear Winner

I used to be against journalists and folks on the corporate side of mainstream media outlets making donations to candidates and political action committees, because I believed everyone in journalism should be above even a hint of partisan bias, but my views have evolved on the matter. Asking reporters and their corporate bosses to curtail their right to give money to political races is an infringement on their First Amendment protections, is now my view.

I would prefer that the corporate media allow political giving and simply inform their audiences when reporters or executives have made contributions, and the amount given, in an easy to find page on their web sites.

In any case, the New York Times strictly forbids only editorial staff from making donations to candidates and causes, as spelled out in rule No. 90 of the paper's code of ethics:

90. Staff members may not themselves give money to any political candidate or election cause or raise money for one. Given the ease of Internet access to public records of campaign contributions, any political giving by a staff member would risk feeding a false impression that we are taking sides.

Using the term "New York Times," I searched Federal Election Commission records available just for the current election cycle on the Congressional Quarterly MoneyLine site and 17 contributions were returned.

The only people on this list who probably are in violation of the Times' prohibition on donations are Chester Higgins and Wendy Moonan, and neither of them covers the presidential race, so I don't see a huge ethical lapse here.

However, I think it's anecdotally interesting that of the all the donations made by anyone from the Times in this election cycle, Barack Obama received the most money.

Here's the breakdown of presidential donations. Obama: $4,072. Giuliani: $2,300. Clinton: $500. Biden: $250. McCain: $200.

From FEC records:

Higgins, Chester A Jr
Brooklyn, NY 11217
The New York Times / Staff Photographer

OBAMA, BARACK (D) (Presidential candidate)
$1,300, 02/28/2008

Higgins, Chester A Jr
Brooklyn, NY 11217
The New York Times / Staff Photographer

OBAMA, BARACK (D) (Presidential candidate)
$1,000, 02/14/2008

Horowitz, Diana
New York, NY 10028
The New York Times / Advertising Manager

OBAMA, BARACK (D) (Presidential candidate)
$300, 03/27/2008

Horowitz, Diana
New York, NY 10028
The New York Times / Advertising Manager

OBAMA, BARACK (D) (Presidential candidate)
$250, 03/11/2008

Horowitz, Diana
New York, NY 10028
The New York Times / Advertising Manager

OBAMA, BARACK (D) (Presidential candidate)
$250, 03/06/2008

Kostiw, Lorraine
New York, NY 10002
The New York Times

OBAMA, BARACK (D) (Presidential candidate)
$250, 02/13/2008

Kulaga, Thomas E Mr.
New York, NY 10011
The New York Times / Creative Director

OBAMA, BARACK (D) (Presidential candidate)
$200, 02/21/2008

Seymore, Stanley
Piscataway, NJ 08854
The New York Times / Information Tech

OBAMA, BARACK (D) (Presidential candidate)
$273, 02/06/2008

Webber, Richard
Morristown, NJ 07960
The New York Times / Executive

OBAMA, BARACK (D) (Presidential candidate)
$250, 02/01/2008

-

Kashwick, John
Closter, NJ 07624
The New York Times / Financial Analyst

CLINTON, HILLARY RODHAM (D) (Presidential candidate)
$250, 02/09/2008

Kashwick, John
Closter, NJ 07624
The New York Times / Financial Analyst

CLINTON, HILLARY RODHAM (D) (Presidential candidate)
$250, 10/25/2007

-

MCCOY, RON MR.
ATLANTA, GA 30306
NEW YORK TIMES / MANAGEMENT

MCCAIN, JOHN S. (R) (Presidential candidate)
$200, 01/24/2008

-

MOONAN, WENDY LYON MRS.
SAG HARBOR, NY 11963
NEW YORK TIMES / WEEKLY COLUMINIST

GIULIANI, RUDOLPH W. (R) (Presidential candidate)
$2,300, 05/08/2007

MOONAN, WENDY LYON MRS.
SAG HARBOR, NY 11963
NEW YORK TIMES / WEEKLY COLUMINIST

GIULIANI, RUDOLPH W. (R) (Presidential candidate)
RUDY GIULIANI PRESIDENTIAL COMMITTEE INC

$2,300, 05/08/2007

[Ms. Moonan gave an equal amount to the primary and general election accounts of Giuliani, but in February her donation for the general race was refunded, so her actual revised total amount given is $2,300.]

-

Tschinkel, Simon
New York, NY 10016
New York Times / Sales

BIDEN, JOSEPH R JR (D) (Presidential candidate)
$250, 12/21/2007

-

Baker, Diane
Brooklyn, NY 11201
The New York Times / Financial Executive

Rep. Lowey, Nita M. (D-N.Y.) (Incumbent, 18th District)
$250, 03/20/2007

Fowle, Farnsworth
Bronx, NY 10463
The New York Times / Retired Reporter

DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE
$230, 01/19/2007