# Political Coordination w/ Media and Max Contributions **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 29, 2022, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-coordination-w-media-and-max-contributions/963690 "2022-04-29T19:01:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-coordination-w-media-and-max-contributions/963690/1 "2022-04-29T19:01:07Z")
Contributions are defined as " A gift, subscription, loan, advance or deposit of money **or anything of value** given to influence a federal election; or the payment by any person of compensation for the personal services of another person if those services are rendered without charge to a political committee for any purpose. 11 CFR [100.52(a)](https://www.fec.gov/regulations/100-52/CURRENT#100-52) and [100.54](https://www.fec.gov/regulations/100-54/CURRENT#100-54)." News coverage of an election - given the presumption of disseminating factual and necessary information for people to make reasoned voting decisions - cannot be counted as support towards any candidate because it is news. Opinion segments, on the other hand, are not news coverage from a legal standpoint. And, one could argue, if they are a sufficiently long-lasting proponent for a particular candidate (e.g. devoting hundreds of hours of promotional material to them) and - especially if they seem to be [coordinating their advertising message](https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/3471811-new-texts-highlight-hannitys-close-communication-with-meadows/) with a political candidate - it seems difficult to see how this would not be a fairly clear political donation. This is, for example, the standard for a PAC. They can advertise to their hearts content in favor of a candidate but should they be shown to be coordinating with the candidate then they are in violation of campaign donation restrictions. Which would bring up the question of whether public commentators need to register as a PAC? As best I can tell, the rules for this vary by state. For example, [in Nevada](https://www.nvsos.gov/sos/home/showpublisheddocument/8401/637182340689630000), the requirement seems to be that the company expressly requests contributions and uses that money to advertise. But, in Maine, the standard is: > [@](#): > > 1. Political action committee. The term “political action committee”: > > A. Includes: > > (1) Any separate or segregated fund established by any corporation, membership organization, cooperative or labor or other organization that receives contributions **or makes expenditures** aggregating more than $2,500 in a calendar year for the purpose of influencing the nomination or election of a candidate to political office; and > > (5) Any person, including any corporation or association, other than an individual, that receives contributions **or makes expenditures** aggregating more than $2,500 in a calendar year for the purpose of influencing the nomination or election of any candidate to political office; and [PL 2021, c. 217, §3 (AMD).] > > B. Does not include: > > (1) A candidate or a candidate’s treasurer under [section 1013‑A, subsection 1](https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/21-A/title21-Asec1013-A.html); > > (2) A candidate’s authorized political committee under [section 1013‑A, subsection 1, paragraph B](https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/21-A/title21-Asec1013-A.html); > > (3) A party committee under [section 1013‑A, subsection 3](https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/21-A/title21-Asec1013-A.html); or > > (4) An exempt donor. [PL 2021, c. 217, §3 (AMD).] > > (“Exempt donor” means a person that has not received contributions for the purpose of influencing a campaign in the prior 2 years and whose only payments of money to influence a campaign in the prior 2 years are: > A. Contributions of money to candidates, party committees, political action committees or ballot question committees registered with the commission or a municipality; or [PL 2021, c. 217, §3 (NEW).] > B. Payments for goods or services with an aggregate value of no more than $100,000 contributed to candidates, party committees, political action committees or ballot question committees registered with the commission or a municipality. [PL 2021, c. 217, §3 (NEW).]) So in at least some states, there would seem to be an argument that opinion segments of the news would count as PACs and, for at least one of them, there’s an indication that the PAC was coordinating with the candidates. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2022, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-coordination-w-media-and-max-contributions/963690/2 "2022-04-29T19:14:05Z")
Addendum: It looks like at the Federal level, there is the concept of a Separate Segregated Fund, which would seem to be the correct model: > **[Registering as an SSF - FEC.gov](https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/registering-ssf/)** > > Information for corporations, labor organizations and trade associations on how to create and register a federal political action committee (PAC), also known as a separate segregated fund or SSF.