Newspaper editorial boards and the practice of endorsing candidates for political office in the United States

Abstract

American newspaper editorial boards occupy unusual positions within their newspapers as the only journalists at the papers who may openly express their opinions. When they exercise their opinion-making power in the form of candidate endorsements, they potentially intervene in the democratic process by influencing readers’ voting decisions. This article examines American newspaper endorsements of political candidates from the point of view of editorial board members who were involved in endorsement processes during the 2002 and 2004 campaign seasons in Pennsylvania. Through ethnographic observation and interviews with four newspaper editorial boards and 16 editorial board members, this article explores the purposes and roles with which editorial board members believe they undertake the endorsement process, the ways in which they envision the consumers of their endorsements and the challenges they encounter.