Byron York revealed on National Review Online that the liberal interest group “People for the American Way”, has received financial support from several of the nation's top-tier media organizations, including the New York Times Company, Time, Inc., and CBS.
Annual reports from People for the American Way have listed those companies, along with other media organizations like NBC, Disney (parent company of ABC), and America Online, among its financial supporters. It appears that the media corporations, some of which operate their own charitable foundations, did not make direct contributions to People for the American Way, but instead purchased tables — for $500 to $600 per seat — at the group's annual fundraising dinners in New York City.
A spokeswoman for the New York Times says the New York Times Company Foundation bought tables at People for the American Way fundraisers in 1998, 2000, and 2001. The 1998 dinner, which honored Times chairman emeritus Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Sr., was also something of a celebration of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose husband was at the time trying unsuccessfully to fend off impeachment in the Monica Lewinsky matter.
A spokesman for Time, Inc. says the company last contributed to a People for the American Way dinner in late 2000 but has since changed its policy about participating. “We determined that for news organizations such as ours, it would not be appropriate for us to do that, so we stopped doing it,” spokesman Peter Costiglio says.
A CBS spokesman says the network also purchased seats for the 2000 dinner. Officials point out that CBS has had a long and close relationship with Norman Lear, the legendary television producer who founded People for the American Way in 1981. “We love Norman dearly,” says network executive vice president Marty Franks. “After all, he did produce one of the most popular shows [All in the Family] in the history of CBS.” But Franks, who earlier in his career served in top positions with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the staff of Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, says CBS at times finds itself at odds with Lear and People for the American Way over issues affecting the entertainment industry, and in fact bought tickets to the dinner because it was honoring Motion Picture Association of America head Jack Valenti.
The statement of purpose for People for the American Way says the group “organizes and mobilizes Americans to fight for fairness, justice, civil rights and the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.” In Washington in recent months, People for the American Way have worked closely with Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee to oppose Bush White House judicial nominations. The group scored a high-profile success with the defeat of the nomination of Charles Pickering to a place on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and it is likely to launch similar campaigns against other Bush judicial choices in coming months. For example, People for the American Way chief Ralph Neas recently referred to appeals-court nominee Miguel Estrada as a “Latino Clarence Thomas,” suggesting the group will wage a fierce battle to stop that nomination.
Although Neas engages in sharply partisan political activity, he presides over an organization that is both a lobbying group and a “nonpartisan” tax-exempt charity. The lobbying side, People for the American Way, is a so-called 501(c) (4) organization – named for the section of the Internal Revenue Service code that provides for such groups — and is legally allowed to engage in partisan political activity. But the other half of People for the American Way, the People for the American Way Foundation, is a 501(c) (3) organization, meaning it is allowed to receive tax-deductible charitable donations but is prohibited by law from engaging in partisan political work….
It appears there is significant overlap between People for the American Way's partisan and nonpartisan sides. Neas's salary, for example, is paid by both the main group and the foundation. In 2000, he received $79,556 in salary from People for the American Way, the political arm, and $119,335 from the People for the American Way Foundation, the nonpartisan arm.
While it is true that People for the American Way does engage in some nonpartisan projects — like the purchase and exhibition of a 1776 copy of the Declaration of Independence — the group's aggressive attacks on the Bush administration suggests that the line between partisan and nonpartisan can sometimes be quite blurry. It is perhaps that mixing of the partisan and nonpartisan that led Time, Inc. to stop purchasing tables at People for the American Way fundraisers. But it appears that Time's decision is the exception, rather than the rule, concerning media support of People for the American Way.
To read York’s article in full, go to National Review Online
(This update courtesy of the Media Research Center.)
