Sun-Times to stop political endorsements

Newspapers have pledged alliance to particular political candidates and parties for years. Part of the way this happens is with editorial endorsements. So it came as a surprise Jan. 22 when The Chicago Sun-Times announced that they will no longer make endorsements in elections.

"Newspaper endorsements are part of a long, proud journalistic tradition from an era where there was a tight bond between those newspapers and the communities they served. That tie no longer exists," said Bruce Evensen, a journalism professor and the director of the MA in Journalism Program at DePaul.

"Most good newspapers today attempt to appeal to the widest possible readership, including people of every political persuasion, by serving up the best and most unbiased news coverage possible. They want to inform you, not spin you. With this in mind, the Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board will approach election coverage in a new way," said an editorial titled "Why we will no longer endorse in elections" that was co-signed by John Barron, the news organization's publisher, and Tom McNamee, the editorial page editor.

The Sun-Times' move not only holds closer the standards of ethical journalism, but it reflects the ever-changing way the public gets election information. "We have come to doubt the value of candidate endorsements by this newspaper or any newspaper, especially in a day when a multitude of information sources allow even a casual voter to be better informed than ever before," the editorial said.

"There's probably never been a time in American history where newspaper endorsements have had less impact," Evensen said. "When newspapers enjoyed a monopoly of knowledge before the rise of television, readers were often devoted followers for the editorial policy of the papers they read. But in the digital age, citizens can and do get their information from a variety of sources."

The Chicago Tribune disagrees. They still see the value of endorsing candidates, according to R. Bruce Dold, the editorial page editor of the Tribune. "For us, (not endorsing candidates) would be a big mistake," Dold said.

While the Sun-Times' research showed that "editorial endorsements don't change many votes, especially in higher-profile races," Dold said he has seen an impact from the Tribune's endorsements in "smaller office races."

He also said their decision to continue endorsing candidates has been received positively for the most part.

"I think it will increase our impact because we're the only paper taking a side on the smaller races...They (the Sun-Times) are not in that game now. It will raise the impact of our endorsements," Dold said.

The Sun-Times is taking a new approach to large and small scale election coverage that will feature "side-by-side comparisons of the candidates' views on the key issues." According to the editorial, the Sun-Times will "provide clear and accurate information about who the candidates are and where they stand on the issues most important to our city, our state and our country."

The editorial also mentioned the paper's readers have expressed concern that "candidate endorsements, more so than all other views on an editorial page, promote the perception of a hidden bias by a newspaper, from Page One to the sports pages." They believe that not endorsing candidates will eliminate this misconception.

Dold said they face a similar issue at the Tribune but continued to defend that the opinions on the editorial page do not carry over into the rest of the newspaper. "People get the impression the whole newsroom is biased because we have an editorial section," he said. "(There is a divide) between the newsroom and the editorial page... People think ABC news is biased and they don't even have an editorial page."

While they disagree on the impact of the endorsements, readers can continue to enjoy an array of opinions from both newspapers' editorial pages.

At the end of the Sun-Times editorial, the paper made one final endorsement. "...Our goal, when we're not too much on our high horse, is to inform and influence your thinking, not tell you what to do. Especially with respect to endorsements. As many of you have told us, you can make up your own mind, thank you very much. We endorse that opinion."