Why Do American Newspapers Endorse Political Candidates?
2020-01-18
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1On January 19, The New York Times will endorse a candidate seeking the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party.
2The Democratic nominee is expected to face U.S. President Donald Trump, the likely nominee of the Republican Party, in national elections this November.
3The Times is one of most famous newspapers in the United States.
4It has been publishing endorsements of presidential candidates for around 150 years.
5But this year, there will be something different.
6The endorsement process will take place in a very public way.
7Readers will have a chance to see and even hear how the paper's editorial team decided on which candidate to support.
8Today, we will explore how and why U.S. newspapers endorse political candidates.
9We will also show you how endorsements are changing in the modern media landscape.
10Newspaper endorsements are specific declarations or statements of support for a political candidate.
11This candidate could be seeking the presidency or any number of local political offices.
12American newspapers have been endorsing U.S. presidential candidates for a long time.
13The New York Times, for example, has been endorsing presidential candidates since 1860.
14So says Kathleen Kingsbury, a deputy Editorial Page editor at The Times.
15Endorsements appear in the editorial section, which gives opinions.
16The editorial section is separate from the news section.
17Newspapers come to their endorsement decisions in different ways, notes Danny Funt in the Columbia Journalism Review.
18For example, the policies of The Tennessean newspaper, in Nashville, Tennessee, are set by the paper's editorial board.
19For an endorsement, Funt explains, five board members must reach a consensus decision.
20Another paper, The Idaho Statesman, has a board that "consists of an editor, publisher, and five unpaid community volunteers."
21"Some readers might imagine a staff meeting where everyone on staff casts a vote," Funt writes.
22"In reality," he adds, "we endorse" may reflect the opinion of the publisher alone, the opinion editor alone, a board of a few people, or a board of 16, as at The New York Times."
23To make its endorsement decisions, The Times has historically done 'off-the-record' interviews with candidates.
24In other words, its editorial team met with candidates and asked them questions.
25The questions and answers were not released to the public.
26This year will be the first time that The New York Times publishes written transcripts and videos of the interviews.
27Kathleen Kingsbury wrote on Twitter that the idea is to make the endorsement process more open.
28But not everyone thinks this change is a good idea.
29Alex Tabarrok is an economist and a professor at George Mason University in Virginia.
30He notes that private, off-the-record discussions can be very valuable.
31"A credible off-the-record system leaks a bit of honesty into the public domain and thus improves information overall," he wrote in the popular economics blog Marginal Revolution.
32He added, "Indeed, what possible value-added can the NYTimes make with a "transparent," "public" process? Everything that will be said, has been said."
33Newspaper endorsements have been a subject of debate for some time.
34Before the 2012 elections, for example, 17 large U.S. newspapers chose not to endorse a presidential candidate, according to National Public Radio (NPR).
35David Haynes told NPR that endorsements tend "to undermine this whole idea of independence, and it really undermines this idea of being an honest broker of opinion."
36At the time, Haynes was the editorial page editor at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
37The 2016 election seemed to settle the question about whether newspaper endorsements influence American public opinion in presidential elections.
38In October 2016, media company Politico noted "as of this writing, Clinton has more than 200 endorsements from daily and weekly newspapers in the United States."
39By comparison, Politico reported, Trump had only six endorsements.
40Trump won the presidency the following month.
41Yet many U.S. newspapers are expected to endorse presidential candidates this year.
42Their reasoning often goes beyond the idea of simply changing public opinion.
43Chicago Tribune editorial page editor John McCormick noted that "swaying votes is only one reason for endorsing, and arguably not the most important."
44He added that endorsements, "explain to the world what that publication is, what it advocates, how it thinks, what principles it holds dear."
45I'm John Russell.
1On January 19, The New York Times will endorse a candidate seeking the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party. 2The Democratic nominee is expected to face U.S. President Donald Trump, the likely nominee of the Republican Party, in national elections this November. 3The Times is one of most famous newspapers in the United States. It has been publishing endorsements of presidential candidates for around 150 years. 4But this year, there will be something different. The endorsement process will take place in a very public way. Readers will have a chance to see and even hear how the paper's editorial team decided on which candidate to support. 5Today, we will explore how and why U.S. newspapers endorse political candidates. We will also show you how endorsements are changing in the modern media landscape. 6Endorsements 7Newspaper endorsements are specific declarations or statements of support for a political candidate. This candidate could be seeking the presidency or any number of local political offices. 8American newspapers have been endorsing U.S. presidential candidates for a long time. The New York Times, for example, has been endorsing presidential candidates since 1860. So says Kathleen Kingsbury, a deputy Editorial Page editor at The Times. 9Endorsements appear in the editorial section, which gives opinions. The editorial section is separate from the news section. 10Process 11Newspapers come to their endorsement decisions in different ways, notes Danny Funt in the Columbia Journalism Review. 12For example, the policies of The Tennessean newspaper, in Nashville, Tennessee, are set by the paper's editorial board. For an endorsement, Funt explains, five board members must reach a consensus decision. 13Another paper, The Idaho Statesman, has a board that "consists of an editor, publisher, and five unpaid community volunteers." 14"Some readers might imagine a staff meeting where everyone on staff casts a vote," Funt writes. "In reality," he adds, "we endorse" may reflect the opinion of the publisher alone, the opinion editor alone, a board of a few people, or a board of 16, as at The New York Times." 15Public and private 16To make its endorsement decisions, The Times has historically done 'off-the-record' interviews with candidates. In other words, its editorial team met with candidates and asked them questions. The questions and answers were not released to the public. 17This year will be the first time that The New York Times publishes written transcripts and videos of the interviews. Kathleen Kingsbury wrote on Twitter that the idea is to make the endorsement process more open. 18But not everyone thinks this change is a good idea. Alex Tabarrok is an economist and a professor at George Mason University in Virginia. He notes that private, off-the-record discussions can be very valuable. 19"A credible off-the-record system leaks a bit of honesty into the public domain and thus improves information overall," he wrote in the popular economics blog Marginal Revolution. He added, "Indeed, what possible value-added can the NYTimes make with a "transparent," "public" process? Everything that will be said, has been said." 20Do presidential endorsements matter? 21Newspaper endorsements have been a subject of debate for some time. 22Before the 2012 elections, for example, 17 large U.S. newspapers chose not to endorse a presidential candidate, according to National Public Radio (NPR). 23David Haynes told NPR that endorsements tend "to undermine this whole idea of independence, and it really undermines this idea of being an honest broker of opinion." At the time, Haynes was the editorial page editor at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 24The 2016 election seemed to settle the question about whether newspaper endorsements influence American public opinion in presidential elections. 25In October 2016, media company Politico noted "as of this writing, Clinton has more than 200 endorsements from daily and weekly newspapers in the United States." By comparison, Politico reported, Trump had only six endorsements. 26Trump won the presidency the following month. 27Yet many U.S. newspapers are expected to endorse presidential candidates this year. Their reasoning often goes beyond the idea of simply changing public opinion. 28Chicago Tribune editorial page editor John McCormick noted that "swaying votes is only one reason for endorsing, and arguably not the most important." 29He added that endorsements, "explain to the world what that publication is, what it advocates, how it thinks, what principles it holds dear." 30I'm John Russell. 31John Russell wrote this report for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. 32______________________________________________________________ 33Words in This Story 34endorse - v. to publicly or officially say that you support or approve of (someone or something) 35landscape - n. the qualities of a given situation or activity; a picture representing an area 36section - n. a part of piece of something; a group within something larger 37board - n. a committee; a group of people serving on the decision-making body of an organization 38consensus - n. an idea or opinion that is shared by all the people in a group 39reflect - v. to represent something 40transparent - adj. honest and open; not secretive 41credible - adj. able to be believed; reasonable to trust or believe 42undermine - v. to lessen the effectiveness of something 43sway - v. to influence; to cause to move back and forth 44We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.