Several GOP candidates running for President recently criticized the media for its liberal bias, and the Republican National Committee has suspended its partnership with NBC over the complaints. An expert joins us to discuss the recent accusations of liberal bias in the media. We also get some tips on the best places to visit in Wisconsin this winter, and we talk to a political scientist about the news that Governor Scott Walker’s campaign didn’t report the employers for thousands of donors.
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Walker's Re-Election Campaign Topped GAB's List For Missing Donor Info
Gov. Scott Walker’s re-election campaign failed to report employer information for close to 6,000 donors in 2014 — roughly 27 percent shy of the full number he was supposed to submit information on, according to the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board.
By contrast, Walker’s Democratic challenger Mary Burke, whose campaign had the second-highest number of missing records, was missing employer information on 2.6 percent of donors (amounting to 217 total).
State law stipulates that any donor who gives more than $100 to a campaign in a calendar year must specify their employer. According to University of Wisconsin political scientist David Canon, the requirement exists to ensure that businesses do not illegally organize donations through their employees, as opposed to donating directly.
By doing so, a company could avoid publicizing its political preferences and steer clear of any potential backlash from consumers who could boycott their business as a result.
“Certainly we have seen voter-inspired boycotts for different employers,” said Canon.
Assembly Republicans recently passed legislation that would do away with employer information requirements for campaign donations altogether. Under their new campaign finance bill, donors would only be required to list their occupations, not specific employers, and only if their donations exceeded $200 in a calendar year.
Proponents of the new measure argue that it is unfair to make companies risk public backlash over their employees donations, and may even compromise free speech.
Canon said that barring any coordination, it would be unlikely that a business’s employee donations would skew to one candidate or party in particular. He also argued that companies should be responsible to the public for their political activity if they do give donaitons directly, pointing to instances where companies were boycotted for opposing same sex marriage. According to Cannon, if the Assembly’s campaign finance bill passes, it will make it impossible to tell if a company is illegally coordinating donations from its employees.
In the instance of Walker’s re-election campaign, the GAB did not levy any fines because it said the campaign was making a good faith effort to supply the missing information.
Editor’s Note: An earlier Associated Press writeup about the GAB report has since been replaced with this article.
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Wisconsin Life: Wisconsin Winter Travel Destinations
Yes winter is coming…but we’re going to embrace it this time. On today’s Wisconsin Life we’ll learn about some fun travel destinations in our state to visit during the cold season.
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Media Bias In Presidential Debates
In the most recent Republican presidential debate, several candidates attacked the media. A journalism professor examines these accusations and discusses if there really is media bias when it comes to presidential candidates.
Episode Credits
- Rob Ferrett Host
- Judith Siers-Poisson Host
- Veronica Rueckert Host
- Amanda Magnus Producer
- Karl Christenson Producer
- David Canon Guest
- Stephanie Klett Guest
- Mike Wagner Guest
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