Journalists engaging in checkbook politics remains a deeply contentious ethical issue. | AP Photos Journalists open wallets

Reporters for Romney? Editors for Obama?

Numerous journalists — self-identified reporters, editors and photographers affiliated with established news organizations — contributed money in September and October to the campaigns of President Barack Obama or Mitt Romney.


Some equate their contributions to free speech or cite the right to act on personal political views during an increasingly tight election’s most critical stage. Others say they’re driven by history, or offer no explanation at all.

Longtime Wall Street Journal arts reporter Paul Levy is unapologetic for his contributions to Obama’s campaign.

“It’s very simple: I think Romney is a dangerous religious freak whose election will cripple America,” said Levy, who has donated $225 to Obama this year. Levy says his political donations don’t pose a conflict of interest because he doesn’t write about politics.

The Wall Street Journal’s political and civic activities policy states that “all news personnel … should refrain from partisan political activity,” including “making a financial contribution to a candidate’s campaign.” Journal spokeswoman Ashley Huston described Levy as a “freelance contributor,” not a salaried staff member, and declined to discuss his political contribution.

Gersh Kuntzman, the New York Daily News’ deputy managing editor for news, gave the Obama Victory Fund joint fundraising committee $250 on Sept. 27. Kuntzman declined to comment for this story.

Matt Walsh, editor and chief executive of The Observer Media Group, which owns Florida newspapers such as Sarasota Observer, Longboat Observer and East County Observer, contributed to the Romney Victory Fund. Walsh said it was not a conflict of interest because he was expressing his right to free speech.

“I don’t cover any of the races,” Walsh said. “Everybody who reads our papers knows that our philosophical point of view is libertarian in our editorials. We don’t hide anything. It would be different if a reporter covering the race was making a contribution.”

ESPN sportscaster Stuart Scott also doesn’t cover politics directly; he gave $25,000 to Obama’s joint fundraising committee in September.

ESPN spokesman Bill Hofheimer wouldn’t comment on Scott specifically, referring POLITICO instead to the network’s policy on political activity. The policy offers on-air staffers wide berth, only discouraging, but not prohibiting “those involved in the newsgathering process” from engaging in “matters of political advocacy or controversy.” It also states that staff who “nonetheless involve themselves in political advocacy may be reassigned to avoid their handling of news, coverage or other topics” that “could be impacted by such advocacy.”

Within the news industry, the act of journalists engaging in checkbook politics remains a deeply contentious ethical issue — a potentially fireable offense at some organizations, but accepted elsewhere.

In the arena of public opinion, meanwhile, deciphering an individual journalist’s personal political leanings is serious sport for liberals and conservative activists alike, with entire organizations, such as Media Matters for America and NewsBusters, dedicated to opposite ends of this pursuit.

KTLA-TV news producer Lisa Cox is listed among the president’s September contributors because she bought campaign memorabilia from BarackObama.com. Cox also serves as secretary of the National Association of Black Journalists and says she gave away the items as gifts “given the historic significance of Obama’s presidency and his potential reelection.”

Cox says she “did not violate my company’s policy or my professional responsibilities as a journalist” by making the donations, adding, “I made these purchases as a private citizen and not in my capacity as a board member of the National Association of Black Journalists.”

Joseph Graf, editor of Thomson Reuters’ Journal of Taxation, which bills itself as providing news on tax law changes, court decisions, revenue rulings and administrative actions, contributed $250 to the Obama Victory Fund on Sept. 28.

Graf says he’s unaware of any company policy that would prohibit his political donation or otherwise dictate his political activity while on his own time. Asked if he plans to make additional political contributions, Graf said, “I don’t know if I have an answer or if I’d tell you if I did.”

The company’s “Freedom From Bias” journalism ethics guide states that “displays of political affiliation or support for partisan causes have no place in our newsrooms” and warns that records of political donations “may be used by those who would seek to undermine the good name of Reuters, its staff or our profession.” But the guide doesn’t overtly outlaw journalists from making political donations and Reuters spokesman David Girardin declined comment.

Many of the nation’s largest news organizations frown on employees contributing to political committees, if not prohibiting the practice outright, as does POLITICO.

The Associated Press, for example, asserts that “under no circumstances” should its journalists donate money to political organizations or political campaigns. They should also use “great discretion” in joining or contributing to organizations that may take political stands. Non-editorial employees must likewise refrain from political activity unless a manager approves it.

The New York Times’s ethics policy bans the paper’ journalists from donating to “any political candidate or election cause or [raising] money for one” because “any political giving by a staff member would risk feeding a false impression that we are taking sides.”

Such institutional directives haven’t always stopped journalists over the years from giving money to political candidates and parties as they follow their own counsel, not that of their employer.

When a journalist is considering making a political donation, he or she should must always picture how the public will perceive it, warns Kevin Z. Smith, the Society of Professional Journalists’s ethics committee chairman.

“It’s a horrible temptation to give into. And you have to ask yourself: Are you serving the political candidates interest over the public’s interest?” Smith said. “No matter if you cover sports or the statehouse, a political donation reflects on your news organization and you can lose credibility. Why set yourself up for this trouble?”

Center for Competitive Politics Chairman Brad Smith, a former Federal Election Commission chairman, urged nuance. A reporter who covers entertainment should not face the same professional prohibitions on political campaign contributions as, for example, a campaign correspondent, Smith said.

Journalists who report on journalists are also making political contributions.

Cyndi Stivers, editor of the Columbia Journalism Review and Columbia Journalism School faculty member, donated $250 to the Obama Victory Fund on Sept. 24, committee records show.

Stivers, through Columbia Journalism Review spokesman Brendan Fitzgerald, confirmed making the contribution. Fitzgerald said that the nonprofit publication “does not have a policy pertaining to political participation by employees, and Stivers does not report on politics.” The magazine itself routinely covers politics, maintaining regularly updated sections dubbed The Swing States Project and Campaign Desk.

Meanwhile, some political donations that initially appear to come directly from working journalists turn out to be more complicated than that.

The Obama campaign lists Bloomberg media industry reporter Edmund Lee as having made a $2,000 contribution on Sept. 20. But Lee himself didn’t actually make the donation — his wife did, through a joint checking account they both control, said Bloomberg spokeswoman Meghan Womack, who also noted that Lee doesn’t cover political campaigns.

Washington Times Editorial page editor Brett Decker and Richard Diamond, managing editor, opinion, both gave to Romney in September. Times spokesman Tom Culligan said their contributions weren’t a problem for the organization because it doesn’t have a policy against contributions at all.

“We do not have a policy that bans personal campaign contributions,” Culligan said. “Assuming they are not running for office, all is good.”

Of the paper’s policy, Culligan added: “It’s worked pretty well for us. The work of our journalists is showcased everyday… This is not something that will be under review.”

Newark Star-Ledger photojournalist John Munson has made multiple donations to Obama this election cycle, including $182.50 in September. The Star-Ledger also has no written policy that bans journalists from making political donations, although managers “work vigorously to make sure the staff’s public behavior and commentary are at all times appropriate,” Editor Kevin Whitmer said. “This addresses everything from bumper stickers and Facebooking to hosting fund-raisers and campaigning.”

Chris Seper, chief executive of MedCity Media, which published medical industry news and analysis, has no problem with MedCityNews Editor Veronica Combs donating in September to Obama.

“We don’t have an expectation of neutrality in our coverage and actually encourage point of view and opinion,” Seper said. “I don’t want to discourage the things in the personal life that will develop the rich opinions that will make great copy.”

Slate Editor David Plotz likewise didn’t take issue with a $252 donation Innovations Editor Katherine Goldstein made Sept. 18 to Obama’s joint fundraising committee, saying the publication has no written policy against journalists making contributions and that he distinguishes among political journalists and those not covering politics when it comes to campaign donations.

Several local television news reporters have also made recent political contributions for which they see no need to apologize.

Don Madison, a sports editor at an ABC affiliate station in Philadelphia, has given $325 so far this cycle to Romney Victory Fund. Madison said the station has never explicitly told its employees its policy on political contributions.

“I keep politics and work completely separate,” he said. “If I were doing something that had anything to do with politics, I won’t do it. I didn’t see it being a conflict.”