WASHINGTON: More than 100 journalists and executives at major media companies, from NBC's top executive to a Fox News anchor to reporters or editors for the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today , CBS and ABC, have made political contributions in recent years.

Some of these donations, detailed in Federal Election Commission records, violate the companies' own policies. But these policies vary widely; some media firms allow donations, others bar them for newsroom employees but not business staffers, and still others restrict only those covering politics.

NBC chief executive Robert Wright has contributed $8,000 since 1999, including $3,500 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and $1,000 to Senator John McCain, R-Ariz. Andrew Lack, a former NBC News chief, gave $1,000 to Rep.

Billy Tauzin, R-La., while NBC president, and Wright contributed $1,500 - after the House committee Tauzin chairs held hearings on the networks' election night failures. NBC spokeswoman Allison Gollust said the network allows its executives to make contributions and that Wright "does not make any decisions specific to news coverage."

Fox anchor Neil Cavuto, the network's managing editor for business, gave $1,000 to a fundraising dinner for President Bush in 2002. "I wish he hadn't," said Fox News Vice President John Moody, who responded by circulating a policy Friday that discourages such contributions. "I hope our people will follow the advice I've given to them voluntarily. The potential perception is that they favour one candidate over the other." But he said he wouldn't ban the practice.

A Fox producer for Oliver North, Griffin Jenkins, gave $2,000 to the Bush-Cheney re-election committee. Melanie Kirkpatrick, associate editor of the Wall Street Journal's editorial page, donated $20,000 to the Republican National Committee and $1,000 to Bush's 2000 presidential campaign. Editorial Page Editor Paul Gigot said there are no prohibitions for those on the opinion side of the newspaper and that Kirkpatrick had obtained permission from his predecessor, the late Robert Bartley.

Such donations raise difficult questions: Do employees of news organizations give up certain civic rights? Or, in an age when polls show growing public perceptions of media bias, should the appearance of siding with a candidate or party be avoided at all costs?

At the Post, business reporter Albert Crenshaw gave $500 to Maryland Democratic House candidate Ira Shapiro in 2001. Crenshaw said his wife made the donation before he told her that he could not participate in such contributions. Sportswriter Mark Asher gave $500 to Illinois Democratic House candidate Pete Dagher in 2002. He said his wife had worked with Dagher in the Clinton White House.

Executive Editor Leonard Downie Junior said he would discuss the matter with the reporters' editors. "You can't make political contributions at all," he said, citing the paper's policy.

For this story, the Post reviewed federal election records for the last five years in which donors identified themselves as working for one of 12 prominent news organizations. While no one who directly covers campaigns was listed in the records, some donors report on political issues occasionally or indirectly, or have in the past.

At ABC, "20/20" correspondent Jami Floyd, who covered the Florida recount in the last presidential election, gave $500 to the Democratic National Committee in 2000. But ABC News spokesman Jeffrey Schneider said all donations are barred "to maintain our professional reputation for fairness and impartiality."-Dawn/The LAT-WP News Service (c) The Washington Post.