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MSNBC report reveals journalists give to Democrats by nearly 8-to-1 margin

A media watchdog organization is praising an investigative reporter with MSNBC for his work in exposing the liberal bias of the media.



Bill Dedman, an investigative reporter for MSNBC, was able to obtain records from the Federal Election Commission tracking the political contributions of 144 journalists from 2004 to the start of the 2008 campaign. They showed that 125 journalists gave to Democrats, while only 17 gave to Republicans and two gave to both parties.

Tim Graham, director of media analysis at the Media Research Center, says the report confirms what his organization has contended all along. "We have also done this sort of study, or did ten or fifteen years ago at MRC, and found basically the same thing," he explains, "[and] not just at the small levels of networks.

"Really, when you go up to the chief executives and the vice presidents for government relations, you are going to see more donations to Democratic politicians than you do to Republicans," Graham continues. "It's not surprising, but it's certainly interesting."

Graham is impressed that a mainstream media outlet would do this story. "Somebody at MSNBC decided this is a good story," he says. "It is certainly not a story that the media has done, but I think we can certainly turn the camera of scrutiny around a little bit and [ask], 'Do we have times where the media obviously shows it's not objective by making donations to candidates?'"

The MRC spokesman says that while journalists, like every other American, have the right to make political contributions to whomever they want, there should be a full disclosure of those contributions -- and reporters who give to political causes, he adds, should recuse themselves from covering them.

I wonder what the fairness doctrine would do to this. Probably nothing.