Winning Voters in the Newspapers

Winning Voters in the Newspapers
by Carl S. Ey

The election is over and Ralph Nader didn't win. He had a difficult time getting any support from voters, winning any electoral votes, and more importantly he didn't get an endorsement from any newspaper in this country. He couldn't harness the power behind the pen.

The Washington Post endorsed Vice President Gore and the New York Post followed suit backing Governor Bush. Yet is endorsing a candidate something newspapers should do? The Fourth Estate is the objective voice in our country and support for a candidate lends itself to subjectivity as opposed to factual reporting.

The press has been taking sides for over 100 years, said Dr. Joseph V. Trahan, III, master public affairs instructor at the Defense Information School at Fort Meade, Md. "They [newspapers] all chose during the Civil War era. Lincoln censored a number of newspapers throughout the war. The South never censored any newspapers at all; a lot of newspapers attacked President Davis vehemently."

It is ironic to note that Lincoln controlled the press and won the Civil War. That seems to be a method for candidates to use in controlling public opinion particularly during an election year.

"On one level, it is impossible for any publication to report objectively on anything as large as a presidential campaign," said Christopher Simpson, associate professor at American University's School of Communication. "It takes a certain amount of courage and reporters are not well-known for courage."

However, when a newspaper endorses a candidate, the publication's editorial staff is the endorsing arm of that publication. Gathering and fairly reporting the news of our nation should remain objective.

Reporters do not get polled to decide which candidate to support said Derrick Wetherell, research associate from the Center for Public Integrity. "It is the editorial writers that decide to endorse, not the entire newspaper."

"The editorial policy should have nothing to do with the news policy," said Rose Ann Robertson, director of writing programs at American University's School of Communication. "The newspapers should remain fair and their editorial positions should not bleed over."

Yet, quite frequently, the editorial position does bleed over into the news gathering business. Newspapers do engage in slanting the news in favor of one candidate or another. For example, displaying one candidate's photo prominently on a regular basis combined with a flattering headline can significantly impact the newspaper's audience.

"There is another kind of coverage on the news where the spin on the news and the headline writing is so strongly tilted toward one candidate or another," said Simpson. "It is not supposed to be the case and it has only been in the last 30 years that there has been an effort to separate the editorial position of a newspaper from its news content."

"Certain media outlets have gotten away from fairness," said Wetherell. "You should at least give the other side the opportunity to give their position."

Nonetheless, to completely accept the newspaper's editorial position or "spin" as reality indicates that the reader is either lazy or isn't concerned about the issues that are developing in the American political arena. The responsibility for understanding the news and how it applies to the candidate's agenda belongs to the reader.

"A reader cannot give up all of their responsibility and criticize a newspaper for how it operates," said Robertson. "Part of the reader's responsibility is to understand the difference between an analysis and a news story."

Perhaps if Pat Buchanan had controlled some of the media, he wouldn't have embarrassed himself Tuesday.