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  1. Economy and Politics
  2. Elections

Journalists Have Donated Nearly $400K to Hillary Clinton's Campaign

By: Kristen Bahler
Kristen Bahler
Managing Editor | Joined July 2016
Kristen Bahler is a writer and editor with seven years of personal finance experience. She oversees signature Money franchises like Best Places to Live and Best Places to Travel and shapes conversation-driving stories about lifestyle, money and consumer spending.
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Published: Oct 17, 2016 2 min read
Democratic Nominee for President of the United States former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton speaks to reporters during a press conference in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on Tuesday October 4, 2016.
The Washington Post—The Washington Post/Getty Images

Members of the news media are helping bank roll Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

So says a report Monday from the nonprofit journalism outfit the Center for Public Integrity.

Between Jan. 1 2015 and Aug. 30 2016, those who identified themselves in federal campaign finance filings as journalists, reporters, news editors or television news anchors -- and others known to be working in journalism -- donated more than $396,000 combined to the presidential campaigns of Clinton and Trump, according to the report. The vast majority of those funds -- about $382,000, or 96% -- went to the Democratic nominee. Only about $14,000 went to the Republican.

While many of the people identified don't work in the political news arena, many do. Two of the more noteworthy donors include Carole Simpson, a former ABC “World News Tonight” anchor and current Emerson College distinguished journalist-in-residence who gave the Clinton campaign $2,800; and longtime television host Larry King, who donated $2,700 to Clinton.

These personal contributions, while substantial, are chump change in the world of campaign finance. OpenSecret.org's list of the top 100 individual political contributors starts at $1.67 million (Bruce & Suzie Kovner) and ends at $39.18 million (Thomas Steyer & Kathryn Taylor).

Federal law requires candidates to disclose the names of people making contributions of more than $200 during a single election cycle, so journalists who gave less than that to the Clinton or Trump campaigns weren't included in the tally. Likewise, the Center for Public Integrity's tally ended in August, so it doesn't include journalists who donated in more recent months. Worth noting: "talk radio ideologues" and "paid TV pundits" like Rush Limbaugh and Corey Lewandowski weren't included in the list.