Should newspapers endorse presidential candidates?
Image: NewsNation
On Friday, the Washington Post announced it will no longer endorse presidential candidates, ending a practice that stretched back to 1988.
WaPo is the second major newspaper to recently decide against making a presidential endorsement, following a similar decision by the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday.
- In a note, WaPo publisher Will Lewis said the move represents a “statement in support of our readers’ ability to make up their own minds.” He also stressed that “most of all, our job as the newspaper of the capital city of the most important country in the world is to be independent.”
- His comments echo the explanation from LA Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, who said he feared endorsing a candidate would add to America’s division. “I shared with our editors that maybe this year we have a column, a page, two pages, if we want, of all the pros and all the cons and let the readers decide,” he told Spectrum News.
The moves have drawn backlash from employees and outside critics. WaPo saw one editor resign in response to Friday’s announcement, while 18 of the paper’s opinion columnists signed on to a combined dissent of the decision. The newspaper’s union also published a statement, attributing the decision to billionaire owner Jeff Bezos and saying it "undercuts the work of our members at a time when we should be building our readers’ trust, not losing it."
- Over at the LA Times, three members of the editorial board and several other staffers resigned in protest of Soon-Shiong’s decision, with many critics arguing the job of a newspaper’s editorial board is to take a stand and argue it persuasively – as opposed to the news side, which gives neutral analysis.
Big picture: Both newspapers have solely endorsed Democrats in recent history – the LA Times every election since 2004, and WaPo since 1988. Overall, the majority of newspapers with opinion pages have endorsed presidential candidates in recent election years (outside of notable exceptions like the Wall Street Journal) – though that trend appears to be reversing.
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Sprinkles from the Left
- Some commentators argue that newspapers like WaPo and the LA Times should be stepping forward to sound the clarion call about the multiple dangers that Donald Trump poses to the nation and the world, rather than choosing to pull back from the discussion.
- Others contend that typically left-leaning newspapers that decline to endorse a candidate in 2024, such as the LA Times and WaPo, are essentially endorsing Trump, and their provided explanations don’t pass the sniff test for why editorial boards shouldn’t weigh in on candidates.
- “For The Post, the wrong choice at the worst possible time” –Ruth Marcus, WaPo
- “Newspapers: No Endorsement Is Absolutely An Endorsement” –Michael Arceneaux, Huffington Post
- “The rich owners of The Washington Post and L.A. Times just capitulated to Trump” –Jarvis DeBerry, MSNBC
Sprinkles from the Right
- Some commentators argue that the fact Harris failed to secure endorsements from the LA Times and WaPo – as well as many typically Democrat-leaning unions – signals that her campaign is in a very poor situation just under a week from Election Day,
- Others contend that presidential endorsements like that of the NY Times in favor of Harris do nothing to improve our public discourse or increase understanding across the partisan divide.
- “Kamala Harris’ failure to secure key endorsements suggests her campaign is in free-fall” –Joe Concha, NY Post
- “Harris, Patriotism and the New York Times” –James Freeman, WSJ
- “Why I'm congratulating the Washington Post” –Jonathan Turley, Fox News
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