This should come as no surprise: a number of journalists have contributed money to political campaigns. MSNBC reports on its web page that a CNN reporter gave $500 to John Kerry’s presidential campaign the same month he was embedded with the U.S. Army in Iraq. An assistant managing editor at Forbes Magazine gave $2,000 to Republicans. He also volunteers as a director of an Exxon/Mobil group that questions global warming.

A junior editor at Dow Jones Newswires gave $1,036 to the liberal group MoveOn.org and keeps a blog listing “People I don’t like” that includes President Bush, Pat Robertson, the NRA and corporate America.

MSNBC identified 144 journalists who made political contributions from 2004 through the start of the 2008 campaign, according to public records filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Most of the contributions went to liberal Democrats and their supportive organizations, but some went to conservatives and Republicans.

It’s all wrong and unethical. No wonder most people don’t trust the media.

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Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.