Editor backs policy on endorsements
Should newspapers endorse political candidates? Well, the easy answer to that question is no.
Some readers get so upset they quit the paper. With newspapers all across the country showing a decline in their circulation numbers, that’s not a small worry. And the Herald-Standard is not immune from that problem as we’ve had our fair share of cancellations because of our endorsements this past week.
Then, there’s the factor of newspapers trying to retain their objectivity. Some contend that newspapers lose their credibility when they make endorsements. They claim that the endorsements are proof that newspapers are biased in favor of certain candidates.
Furthermore, endorsements are seen many times as the kiss of death. Many voters simply don’t like being told who to vote for and are far more likely to cast ballots for unendorsed candidates. Our track record in this record is particularly abysmal.
So, why bother?
Well, here at the Herald-Standard, our owners, the Calkins family, and our publisher, Val Laub, take the role of the editorial page very seriously. They believe it’s meant to inform and educate readers about serious issues facing the community. They feel strongly that editorial pages are the backbone of the First Amendment, which guarantees that the nation has a free press without any government censorship or intervention.
So, if you believe in a free press and the rights of editorial page writers to freely express themselves, then how do you put a stop to it when the going gets a little tough? Isn’t that the biggest form of censorship? How can you editorialize on the big problems of the day but pull back when it comes to endorsing candidates, who in the end will have such a big say on how those crucial issues are decided?
Our owners believe that it isn’t enough just to speak out on the issue of a free press. They believe that the talk must be backed up with action. So, they’ve let all their newspapers form an editorial board, which meets periodically to examine the crucial questions of the day, including the endorsement of candidates.
Our own editorial board is in the middle of a transformation of sorts as we attempt to reach out and get more diverse viewpoints.
In the past, the editorial board was made up of our publisher, editor, editorial page editor and several other mid-level editors. We’ve recently added Paul Sunyak, one of the most experienced reporters on our staff, to take advantage of his expertise. We also decided to include a Herald-Standard executive on the board to try and get some input from outside the newsroom. John Voytek, our director of Interactive Media, was the first one to volunteer for the post and he’ll serve six months before being replaced by another executive. We’re also taking a serious look at bringing someone from outside the newspaper to serve on our editorial board to give it even more diversity.
We take our responsibilities seriously. For this election, we interviewed 10 candidates, all lasting at least one hour. It was exhausting at times trying to fit the interviews in with our other duties. But we felt it was necessary to find out the positions of the various candidates and see how they stood up under our questioning. Then, we had a couple of very interesting sessions where we spoke up about who we felt were the best candidates for each office and decided who we wanted to endorse.
Our Editorial Page Editor Luanne Traud then wrote the actual endorsements, doing an excellent job of reflecting the consensus of the board.
As far as impacting the credibility of the newspaper, we feel that there are few problems in this area. News is news. If something’s going on in our area, we’re going to cover it. And if it’s big enough, it’s going to be on the front page with a photo. Gov. Rendell came to Uniontown for a pro-Kerry rally. We were there. Vice President Dick Cheney came to nearby Washington & Jefferson College. We were there. Actually, most of the complaints we get about political reporting comes from stories done by The Associated Press, which we don’t control.
The fact is that Fayette County is heavily Democratic. So, the Democrats tend to get more coverage than the Republicans. But there are signs that could be changing and if it ever does, we’ll be more than happy to give the Republicans the lion’s share of our coverage.
All this isn’t to say we have a perfect record when it comes to picking candidates. Like any voter, we’ve sometimes wished we could have taken back our support. But our goal with endorsements, as it is with all our of our editorials, is to make readers think. If we do that, then we’ve succeeded, no matter who we’ve endorsed.
Mark O’Keefe is the executive editor of the Herald-Standard. He can be reached at mo’keefe@heraldstandard.com or by calling 724-439-7569.