On Oct. 21, the Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram Editorial Boards published a series of political endorsements in their Opinion sections, giving readers recommendations for who to support in the upcoming general election and providing their reasoning.
The Dallas Morning News gave recommendations for the U.S. Senate — endorsing Colin Allred over incumbent Ted Cruz — as well as Places 9-13 on the 5th Court of Appeals and the 3rd and 26th Congressional District seats. They also provided voting recommendations on the Dallas charter amendments and abstained from giving any about the Texas Senate.
The Telegram also endorsed Allred for the U.S. Senate and gave recommendations for the Fort Worth and Southwest Tarrant County seats in the Texas House of Representatives, the Texas Senate seat that covers the Parker and Collin counties, a seat in the Denton County District and Tarrant County’s sheriff and tax assessor.
The boards’ recommendations were presented with careful analysis and a thorough explanation of the candidate’s policies, put together with the aid of interviews and research. However, as an organization, a newspaper should never publish political endorsements because they compromise their journalistic integrity, provide candidates with free propaganda and take advantage of their audience’s trust to influence their vote.
By publishing political endorsements directly from the editorial board, instead of individual opinion pieces, any news reporting they do in the future concerning the candidates and politics in question could be tainted by accusations of bias. Once people know that they, as an organization and united group of journalists, sway towards a specific side of the political spectrum or a candidate, readers will question why and how they write their news. Even if they claim that all editorial and opinion pieces are independent of the work in their newsroom — as the Telegram does — they have taken a blow to their credibility.
Furthermore, that the entire editorial board was able to come together to make these political recommendations in the first place showcases a possible lack of diverse thought within the organization, which is not ideal for comprehensive reporting.
Already, Allred’s campaign and other news agencies are highlighting their endorsements, highlighting them as ‘Texas’ biggest newspapers’ and picking through their analyses to elevate Allred. Few people will read the original articles, especially considering both newspapers’ websites are behind a paywall — leaving readers and candidates to go off headlines and lines taken out of context. Allred and all other benefiting candidates have received a free-of-charge seal of approval from agencies with great influence within the state, and that is not correct.
Both newspapers have a successful and long history in Texas, with Dallas Morning News having a wide reach beyond the confines of the city. They have a loyal audience that trusts and believes in them and is therefore more susceptible to the organization’s recommendations. The editorial boards have misused their trust by pushing a political agenda, no matter how well-researched it may be.
Endorsing candidates is something that should be left to individuals and political organizations. Newspapers and news reporting agencies have to remain impartial — at least at the leadership level.
