Some of the nation's largest companies were counted last year by the government as small businesses for contracting purposes, inflating the Bush administration's record of help to small companies.
Media companies cited as small businesses included The New York Times Co., USA Today International Corp., Bloomberg LP and the Public Broadcasting Service, according to data the administration gave congressional investigators.
The media companies joined other corporate giants like Exxon Mobil Corp. and Microsoft Corp. that congressional investigators identified recently as companies listed as small businesses by the White House. The companies say the government erroneously gave them that designation and they did not portray themselves as small businesses to win the contracts.
The government is required to spend 23 percent of roughly $314 billion in contracts with small businesses. Last month, the Small Business Administration claimed the government more than met that goal in 2005.
An investigation by House Democrats found the number was closer to 22 percent because about $12 billion in contracts went to big companies mistakenly cited as going to small businesses. The media companies were not mentioned in the congressional report but were included in a database of small businesses the investigators received as part of their inquiry.
