Why do newspapers endorse political candidates?
Words: Jessica Jones • Sep 8th, 2008 • Category: RANDOMNESS.
newspapers
But I got to thinking, why the heck should what is supposed to be an unbiased news organization be endorsing political candidates anyway? Maybe it’s just me, but I like to think that newspapers present me with the facts, and allow me to make my own informed decision about who I am voting for.
According to a Feb. 2008 Time Magazine article, titled “Should Newspapers Still Be Taking Sides,” by the magazine’s managing editor Rick Stengel, this all started in during the 1936 presidential campaign.
“During the 1936 presidential campaign, the Chicago Tribune, under its archconservative owner, Colonel Robert McCormick, wholeheartedly endorsed the candidacy of the Republican Alf Landon. The paper was so vehemently anti-F.D.R. that 10 days before the election, switchboard operators at the newspaper answered the phone by saying “Hello. Chicago Tribune. Only 10 days left to save the American way of life.”
Stengel brings up some good points:
“Young news consumers are suspicious about traditional authority. They prize objectivity, straightforwardness and transparency. I doubt there’s a reader under 30 who gets why newspapers endorse presidential candidates — and most of the ones I talk to ask the following: How can a newspaper be objective on the front page when it endorses a candidate on the editorial page? They’re dubious about whether the reporter who covers Hillary Clinton can be objective if his newspaper has endorsed Barack Obama — and vice versa. And they’re right. At a time when newspapers are trying to ensure their survival by attracting younger readers, the idea of endorsements is both counterproductive and an anachronism. It’s certainly the prerogative of newspapers and their owners to endorse candidates, but in doing so they are undermining the very basis for their business, which is impartiality. It’s a recipe for having less influence, not more.”
What do you think? Should newspapers still be endorsing presidential candidates?
Jessica Jones is spending these days penning articles about black culture, music and fashion for magazines and newspapers like Black Enterprise, Vapors, Vibe.com and The Village Voice.
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The journalist in me says no but just me as a person is conflicted. I don’t get upset when publications like Essence favor Obama, but I know if it was the other way around and the pubs I love to read were on the McCain-Palin train then I would be tight. It’s a double standard for sure.
I was talking about newspapers, not magazines. Magazines, especially a magazine specifically targeted for black women, caters to a specific audience, who favors Obama. But when it comes to newspapers, who are not supposed to cater to any specific reader,and who are claim to be unbiased, then i have a problem when they choose one candidate over another. Besides, essence and similar publication, never claimed to be unbiased news sources.
Regardless of what our idealistic minds and hearts would like to believe, newspaper publications are far from unbiased. Many newspapers (NY ones being on the more flagrant side) are absurdly left or right leaning. You really have to look at who owns the paper, who’s on the staff and who’s buying their stocks and shares. That’s the direction the paper will lean toward.
And in general, I don’t think older generations question the papers endorsing candidates because they trust them. They look to the publication to tell them what to do. Remember, the general public doesn’t like to think much and if the paper they’ve read every morning for 20 years endorses someone, well damnit, that someone must be on point. Newspapers don’t lie…