I looked up some more information on it and found this article by American Journalism Review. The article researched whether or not newspaper endorsements impact public opinion. Their findings, for the most part, discovered that endorsements usually had no impact on voters. So why do newspaper do it? Here are some reasons:
Editorial writers explain endorsements with words like "conversation," "values" and "credible."
• Doak: "The primary purpose of editorials is to stimulate discussion in the community [and it's]..a vehicle through which the newspaper expresses its values."
• Collins: "The point of doing an endorsement of a president, or even a senator, is to continue that conversation... When you weigh in, what you're really doing is juicing up the conversation, and that's critical before an election."
• Lynell Burkett, editorial page editor at the San Antonio Express-News and president of the 600-member National Conference of Editorial Writers: "We're here to present a credible opinion and to stir conversation and debate."
• Fred Hiatt, editorial page editor of the Washington Post, adds one more: The newspaper as citizen.
* I can't figure how to get out of the quote thing so the rest of my blog is going to be indented*
So it seems that most editors claim that their newspaper endorse canidates so that they could stir up coversation and debate. Do you think they do that? Or do they just make newspapers seem biased?
Also, it causes people to start thinking that they will give skew their stories so that their canidate looks good. We already see that with Fox News and MSNBC. I can honestly say I won't watch Fox News because I think its so biased against my candidate and my brother feels the same about MSNBC. The same could happen for newspapers.
I really think that endorsements are an idea that newspapers need keep away from. What do you think?
2 comments:
I followed up on my blog too this week, but in a different way....
I think journalism has no place in politics, but I also think it would be nearly impossible to separate them in our society. People look to them to keep informed, and in that they will always feel the need to "lead" the people.
On the other hand the effect of other endorsements (ie. celebrity) is uncertain.
Newspaper endorsements need to stay. They've been going on for a very, very long time. And it's on the EDITORIAL page, not on the actual news pages.
Do we need to take away the opinions, too, that are on the other side of the editorials? Endorsements are refreshing because they showcase what the biases and philosophical convictions of the very people whose editorials you read actually are. There's a place for news. And there's a place for opinion. We need them both.
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