On Saturday Alaska's largest newspaper (the Anchorage Daily News) endorsed Barack Obama for president.
Here is an excerpt:
"No matter the outcome in November, this election will mark a signal moment in the history of the 49th state. Many Alaskans are proud to see their governor, and their state, so prominent on the national stage.
Gov. Palin's nomination clearly alters the landscape for Alaskans as we survey this race for the presidency -- but it does not overwhelm all other judgment. The election, after all is said and done, is not about Sarah Palin, and our sober view is that her running mate, Sen. John McCain, is the wrong choice for president at this critical time for our nation.
Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, brings far more promise to the office. In a time of grave economic crisis, he displays thoughtful analysis, enlists wise counsel and operates with a cool, steady hand."
In fact, if the election were based on newspaper endorsements alone Mr. Obama would win in a landslide.
According to Editor & Publisher the Obama/Biden ticket leads the McCain/Palin ticket by 194 to 82 in newspaper endorsements. In addition, several newspapers in key swing states (such as the Indianapolis Star and the Ann Arbor News) have decided not to endorse a candidate.
Newspapers are a dying institution in America and you, kind reader, might not care what they say... but I do.
Why do newspaper endorsements matter? I think it should be noted that many fine journalists spent many hours researching, interviewing and observing the candidates before making these choices. And as this E&P columnist found, endorsements may have actually had an impact in the key battleground states in 2004.
I don't think it is any secret who the editors of TMMPF support. Know, though, that regardless of our leanings we feel that, as voters, it is our responsibility to be as informed as possible.
With that in mind, TMMPF endorses reading the endorsements in your college/local/independent/national newspaper. In fact it would probably be beneficial to read a few (google is your friend).
Use the E&P list to get some conflicting views, you never know what might catch your eye. As any good journalist will tell you, to be truly unbiased one needs to gather information from all possible sources.
And as a voter (we believe) this is our (and your) civic duty.
2 comments:
PURGE: SKEPTICAL REPORTERS TOSSED OFF OBAMA PLANE
Fri Oct 31 2008 08:39:55 ET
NY POST, DALLAS MORNING NEWS, WASHINGTON TIMES TOLD TO GET OUT... ALL 3 ENDORSED MCCAIN
**Exclusive**
The Obama campaign has decided to heave out three newspapers from its plane for the final days of its blitz across battleground states -- and all three endorsed Sen. John McCain for president!
The NY POST, WASHINGTON TIMES and DALLAS MORNING NEWS have all been told to move out by Sunday to make room for network bigwigs -- and possibly for the inclusion of reporters from two black magazines, ESSENCE and JET, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
Despite pleas from top editors of the three newspapers that have covered the campaign for months at extraordinary cost, the Obama campaign says their reporters -- and possibly others -- will have to vacate their coveted seats so more power players can document the final days of Sen. Barack Obama's historic campaign to become the first black American president.
MORE
Some told the DRUDGE REPORT that the reporters are being ousted to bring on documentary film-makers to record the final days; others expect to see on board more sympathetic members of the media, including the NY TIMES' Maureen Dowd, who once complained that she was barred from McCain's Straight Talk Express airplane.
After a week of quiet but desperate behind-the-scenes negotiations, the reporters of the three papers heard last night that they were definitely off for the final swing. They are already planning how to cover the final days by flying commercial or driving from event to event."
http://www.post-gazette.com/
Maureen Dowd: Kicked off campaign
Timothy McNulty | September 30, 2008
Add Maureen Dowd, the Pulitzer-winning columnist for the NY Times, to the list of media types who have fallen out bitterly with John McCain. The McCain campaign has barred her from flying in the McCain and Palin press planes, even though major media outlets routinely pay thousands to the campaigns every day for travel and expenses (and also begs the question, why didn't her media colleagues Man Up and get her aboard anyway?)
It all started when Maureen covered an Aug. 30 McCain-Palin rally in Washington, Pa., then wasn't let on the McCain plane afterward, forcing her to overnight at a Pittsburgh airport hotel while the traveling press went on without her.
"I had had a great relationship with John McCain for 16 years, through columns he liked and didn't like. So at first I thought it was a mistake and doublechecked with the press office. They said I was banned from both planes for 'the foreseeable future.' Then [McCain spokeswoman] Nicolle Wallace was gloating about it to reporters on the Palin plane," Dowd wrote in an email.
"It was disappointing because I didn't think John McCain would ever be as dismissive of the First Amendment as Dick Cheney."
It bears mentioning that the McCain camp has declared all-out war on the Times, and is being protective of Palin with everyone in the media, but especially someone as adroit and experienced as Maureen.
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