We take donations, but we do not allow those donations to affect our choice of stories. In 2013, we announced our donations policy. Here’s the relevant part, from our attorney, Scott Pilutik:
SCOTT PILUTIK: I’m the Bunker’s attorney and its webmaster. At Tony’s request, I’ve created a Paypal account that will receive all donations. For each donation, you’ll receive a confirmation and a thank you from me. Before that money is released to Tony, I will make sure that any identifying information is removed. In other words, Tony will not know the identities of anyone who donates to the Underground Bunker. We think that will help protect his journalistic integrity, but also help him grow the site. I’ll point out that PayPal deducts a small percentage if you pay without a PayPal account of your own. Please contact me for more information about how to make a direct transfer to avoid deductions from Paypal — I’ve established the e-mail address BunkerFund@tonyortega.org, which is associated with the Paypal account, and where I can answer any questions, including our plan to keep donors anonymous.
We don’t know whether many other blogs go to that much trouble to protect their editorial integrity, but for us it’s ironclad and something we’ve followed to the letter since we started accepting donations.
