Newspapers’ tradition of publishing staff editorials muddles objectivity

By: Nic Dunn

Monday, March 8, 2010 - 1:22 PM

Nic Dunn

Every election cycle brings forth the usual pattern of public opinion polls, public debates and news media endorsements. Newspapers have endorsed candidates for as long as any of us can remember.

The practice has become a standard that’s expected and even desired by readers.

This practice is unethical, unwise and must cease.

In the 2008 presidential campaign, many news outlets published endorsements of candidates.

In January 2008, The Las Vegas Review Journal published an endorsement of Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney: “…in our opinion, the viable candidate most likely to lead Republicans … is Mitt Romney.”

The Reno Gazette-Journal also endorsed Romney in the Republican primary. Obama was the paper’s pick for the Democratic primary.

The Nevada Sagebrush endorses presidential candidates for the Associated Students of the University of Nevada elections.

During the 2009 ASUN presidential campaign, the Sagebrush published its regular staff editorial, at the time endorsing Eli Reilly for president and Maritza Perez for vice president.

A newspaper as an entity has no business expressing an opinion or endorsement. The Reno Gazette-Journal is an organization, not a person. People have opinions — institutions don’t.

How can we expect a newspaper or other medium to report with clear neutrality when it regularly takes a stand on any given issue?

The newspaper as an institution must be solely the vehicle for opinions, not the originator of them.

The expression of opinions is for individual writers in the opinion section, not the paper as a whole. The opinion section of the newspaper is vital and necessary and can encourage open debate.

To be clear, not all editorials in newspapers should stop. The success of a democratic country depends on individuals who exchange beliefs in the marketplace of ideas.

An editorial written by a staff, instead of an individual, is what must end.

When a newspaper takes a position as a single entity, readers assume that the entire staff of the paper agrees with the message of the editorial. With such a diverse array of opinions on any given staff, this is impossible and foolish to attempt.

A staff editorial or any similar tool cannot represent the collective opinions and beliefs of every person who works at the paper.

An opinion expressed by an individual who writes for the paper is beneficial to the open dialogue we must have about important issues.

But any opinion expressed by the collective unit of the paper, whether it be a simple editorial or a political endorsement, muddies the concept of newspaper neutrality.

Newspaper endorsements are a tradition in this country and on this campus.

This tradition is inherently flawed and unethical.

All news outlets engaging in it, from the Sagebrush to the Reno Gazette-Journal, should cease at once in order to maintain journalistic values.

Nic Dunn hosts a talk show on Wolf Pack Radio every Tuesday and Thursday from 3- 4 p.m. at wolfpackradio.org. Reach him at perspectives@nevadasagebrush.com.