PBS's Donor Lists.(a Republican-controlled Congress takes offense at the Public Broadcasting Service allegedly trading donor lists with political parties, although no law appears to have been broken)(Brief Article)

Nation, The, September, 1999 by Simurda, Stephen J.

Listening to Republicans in Congress, one would think that swapping donor lists between public broadcasting stations and political parties is an offense tantamount to obstruction of justice or jury tampering.

In fact, no laws appear to have been broken. And while the sharing of donor lists by some PBS stations was ill advised, it was an inevitable and even commendable result of the relentless attacks on public broadcasting by Republicans over the past few years. Forced by federal cutbacks to be more self-sufficient and entrepreneurial, public broadcasters would naturally look to raise funds from people who are likely to support them. You don't have to be Jim Lehrer to know that it has been Democrats who have tended to support public broadcasting, while the...

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