Journalists who give to candidates and its impact on political coverage

Posted at 1:11 PM on June 22, 2007 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)

MSNBC has a fascinating story on journalists who gave political contributions to candidates. This is a troubling issue for political reporters who cover candidates.

There are two Twin Cities journalists on the list (Alix Kendall of Fox9 News and Barbara Haugen of the Star Tribune) and several NPR reporters (Corey Flintoff, Michelle Trudeau and Guy Raz).

I would like to say that this comes as a surprise but it doesn't. Over the past few years, the black and white policy on this issue has been blurred. See former Star Tribune reporter Eric Black's comments on political leanings in Kate Parry's column here. Two Pi Press reporters were also suspended for attending a political concert by Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M. and others that funded a Democrat leaning group.

This is a troubling issue for political reporters who cover candidates. There are plenty of people in the press corps who work hard to provide balance and fairness to our stories (including many who work for the organizations listed above). This report does not help our image especially since we're labeled as liberal or conservative by whichever interest group is pointing the finger. The MSNBC report just gives them more ammo.

For the record, MPR has a strict policy forbidding the news staff from giving to political candidates.

Comments (1)

This is a very interesting story that will undoubtedly be the cause of much comment on other blogs.

Posted by Bill Prendergast | June 23, 2007 10:58 AM

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