DALLAS — It is a simple question.
Does it even matter if a newspaper endorses a political candidate?
Y’all-itics sat down with two Texans who would know, and they say it primarily depends on the type of newspaper you’re reading.
William McKenzie is the senior editorial advisor at the George W. Bush Institute. Before that, he was an editorial columnist at the Dallas Morning News for 22 years. He even won a Pulitzer Prize during that time.
When it comes to national papers, such as The Washington Post, McKenzie says it’s perfectly fine for them not to endorse a presidential candidate.
“I don’t think you’re persuading. I don’t think you’re really influencing the vote, because people are making up their minds anyway,” McKenzie told us on Y’all-itics.
That is an opinion echoed by the billionaire owner of The Washington Post, Jeff Bezos, who decided last minute to pull his newspaper’s planned endorsement of Kamala Harris.
After facing heavy criticism and significant subscriber cancelations, Bezos wrote an opinion piece calling his decision to end the practice “principled” and the “right one.”
“Presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election. No undecided voters in Pennsylvania are going to say, ‘I’m going with Newspaper A’s endorsement.’ None,” Bezos wrote. “What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence.”
McKenzie says where it makes a difference is at the state and local level, with local and regional newspapers.
Those newspapers are often the only source where residents can find useful information about local candidates running for everything from City Council to the Court of Criminal Appeals.
And in places like Texas, we elect a lot of judges, so that information is necessary for an informed electorate.
McKenzie argues that makes local media instrumental players in strengthening democracy.
“This is how journalism can help create community, can help strengthen our democracy and create some stability because they give people information and then the people can go out and use that information however they want to and vote yea, or vote nay,” said the Pulitzer Prize winner.
Bud Kennedy is another icon of Texas journalism, with a career that spans five decades.
He’s currently a Fort Worth Star-Telegram opinion columnist and a member of the paper’s editorial board.
Kennedy says these days, there’s even a business argument for local and regional papers to continue to endorse in local races.
He says his newspaper is a primary information source on down ballot candidates and they are some of the most read articles they publish.
“Opinion is 20 to 30% of our page views sometimes. Our down-ballot editorials have been tremendous in readership because there’s no other place to find out about the Place 4 City Council seat or who the candidates are for school board,” Kennedy told us.