Conflict of interest?

From News Editor Jordan Green:

In the four hours that my most recent staff column, "Ask and you shall receive," has been posted to the web, it appears that I've stirred minimal controversy. I'm always anticipating a firestorm of condemnation, but often as not that expectation turns out to be a product of wild fantasy. With the exception of the Troublemaker — a limitless well of ire — and some mild opprobrium by Guarino, I've been mostly disappointed.
Here's something. In my column about Food Not Bombs I mentioned the group's designation by one FBI agent as a domestic terrorism group. I mentioned Greensboro Food Not Bombs' lack of cooperation with a UNCG cop. And I mentioned the icky controversy surrounding Dumpster-diving. What I didn't discuss — at least not at length — is my role in fundraising for the group. What readers would probably be interested to know is that I received a message from a state official expressing interest in making a donation. I'm not inclined to disclose this person's identity, and I'll take the heat for that.

It was my idea to organize the banquet. Part of what I brought to the table was my extensive list of contacts. I gather e-mail addresses as a reporter, and I gather e-mail addresses as a human being with social instincts. I do it compulsively. I sensed that there were progressive people in Greensboro with money who would want to support Food Not Bombs' work. I didn't solicit anyone personally, but I sent out a mass Evite advertising our banquet at the Hive last Saturday. I think that Food Not Bombs' work is worthy of community support.

In most cases I am pretty shamelessly transparent about every aspect of my life. So I'll acknowledge that I was both excited and a little unnerved when I received the message from the unnamed official asking how to get a check to Food Not Bombs. I never made any promise to keep the name a secret, but I ask myself would any of the donations have been made if the donors had been told their names would be published in YES! Weekly?

So here's another invitation: If the official wants to go public with their donation, this blog is a good place to do it. Otherwise the mystery will have to remain. In any case, I can promise that this person, to the extent that s/he shows up in my stories, will not receive more favorable coverage because of the donation.