I spoke to a friend of mine who used to be a reporter for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. He specialized in covering the state legislature. He was laid off when the paper was forced to downsize a few years ago.

He said policies like this are common, and they were taken very seriously at the PP. He gave some examples. Two reporters were disciplined (suspended, not fired) because they bought tickets to, and attended, a Bruce Springsteen concert that was a fundraiser for John Kerry. Although they had paid cash for their tickets, and didn't identify themselves, it was thought they "could have been recognized." (Perhaps they were. I didn't catch how their transgression became known.)

My friend, jointly with his wife (who was not a newspaper employee), gave money to a Catholic organization that helped unwed mothers. The ethics committee "thought long and hard about it" before they finally OK'd it. They were concerned it "might be perceived as" an anti-abortion political donation. I should point out that St. Paul is more than half Catholic, and the Pioneer Press' editorial position is generally conservative, so they needn't have been concerned that an anti-abortion position would be unpopular.

I get the impression that my friend, although he no longer works as a reporter, has a deeply ingrained habit of being (or at least trying to appear) nonpartisan. Although I attempted to engage him in a discussion of Olbermann, MSNBC, and Fox News, he did not express an opinion one way or another on whether MSNBC had done the right thing.