It’s All About the Money Trail
By Milla Goldenberg
Jeff Rabin
Leslie Wayne
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For reporters covering the campaign trail, the Watergate-era adage, “follow the money,” has never been more relevant.
Nor has it ever been easier.
Jeff Rabin, a political reporter for The Los Angeles Times, told a gathering of Knight Center conference attendees that the use of the Internet - combined with the electronic filing of campaign finance reports - allows journalists much greater access to what was once a very private process.
But Rabin, whose two decades covering local and state politics included a stint with the Sacramento Bee, warned that “the money alone is only the beginning of the story, not the end.” The challenge, he said, is to connect the dots and tell readers where the campaign contributions really come from, and how money impacts all aspects of the political process.
Rabin outlined a number of reasons that individuals, companies, unions, citizen groups and special interests contribute to political campaigns. Among them:
- To gain access
- To curry favor
- To influence legislation
- To advance a cause
- To gain an economic or financial advantage
- To protect their interests
- To damage a rival
Rabin noted that over his years covering California politics, the only substantial change in the political process of the country’s most populous and wealthy state was the amount of money involved. “With 35 million people, an economy that is the fifth largest in the world, and 20 percent of all the electoral votes needed to win the presidency, California is clearly in a class by itself,” he said. “When it comes to politics, we are - for better or worse - a trendsetter, and the recent trends are disturbing.”
After citing several instances of special interests influencing policy, he summed up the problem by noting: “Caution! Slippery inside. Follow the money. You won’t be disappointed.”
Keeping an Eye on the Lobbyists
Session attendees also heard from Leslie Wayne, special projects writer for The New York Times, who told them that the role and influence of federal lobbyists had grown so substantially in recent years that it would behoove journalists to cover them year-round, not just during the campaign season.
Wayne described lobbyists as “the eyes and ears of a corporation or business,” individuals who look for federal legislation and regulations that could help or hurt their clients. And she classified them into two groups: payroll lobbyists who work for big companies and firms hired to work an issue.
Lobbyists often are former government employees, she noted, and their past work often gives them access to old colleagues. The result, she said, is an incestuous community of lobbyists, lawmakers and businesses that have an undue influence on federal politics.
In some cases, Wayne said, lobbyists determine the distribution and amount of a corporation’s campaign contributions. And some, such as former congressmen, are called upon to write proposed legislation.
Wayne advised reporters covering lobbyists to make sure their stories answer the following questions:
- How much money was spent or donated?
- Who are the lobbyists - personally and professionally - and what are their relationships to the issues they represent?
- What is the business at hand and who are the decision-makers involved?
Wayne said lobbyists are a good source of information, as they tend to be smart, politically savvy and willing to discuss their own agendas - particularly with the press. She said reporters should develop relationships with special interest staffers and committee members, and suggested contacting organizations - such as the Center for Public Integrity and Taxpayers for Common Sense - that monitor lobbying in Washington, D.C.
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