Last night, while watching the news, my wife said something very profound. “I don’t think newspapers should be allowed to endorse a candidate.” Now, she isn’t interested in politics at all, although she gets pissed when someone degrades President Bush. So hearing her say something like that took me a bit by surprise.
I hadn’t thought about it before because newspapers have always been in the endorsement business in this country. From our beginning, Freedom of the Press has given them that right.
But I think she has a point, especially today when the established media get upset about anyone who is “too patriotic”. I would think that journalistic integrity, if there ever was such a thing, would dictate that a newspaper not take sides. Don’t they claim that all the time?
Good papers are able to separate their editorial section from their news section. But I don’t think the New York Times can sincerely make that claim. And if a news organization purports to present the news in an unbiased fashion, shouldn’t they keep their endorsements to themselves?
No, no, no, I’m not advocating any kind of legal fix to this. I’m a big believer that what Madison and his buds put into our Constitution is just what they meant. And I believe they were far better educated in the history and philosophy of government than anyone we now have in government. What they built has stood longer than any similar government in history. I just think all of us should look at an endorsement as nothing more than a reflection of the organization. Which means, we should read their “news” through the same prism.
By definition, an endorsement admits a total lack of objectivity, right? I’ve wondered about it some, too. Then again, I would never put much stock in any paper’s endorsement anyway; they’re all just people/employees with their little opinions who happen to have titles like “managing editor,” etc.
Comment by topdawg — February 27, 2004 @ 8:37 am
Yeah, I don’t expect objectivity, but I hate when someone claims to be objective, then does this. If they can keep news separated from editorializing, great.
Comment by Bunker — February 27, 2004 @ 10:36 am
let me begin by saying, your wife is always right and i agree with her entirely.
nevertheless, i use the endorsement part of the paper to identify the leanings of the editor for the rest of the news. i wish the tv networks would endorse candidates too. then we would know what they think. and they couldn’t deny it all the time.
Comment by rammer — February 27, 2004 @ 9:42 pm
Of course she’s always right. That is the textbook definition of “wife.”
Comment by Bunker — March 2, 2004 @ 5:47 am