This is the fifth and final update chronicling which newspapers have endorsed which presidential candidates.
A rising number of observers believe that newspaper endorsements for president no longer have much impact on how Americans cast their votes. For one thing, ever fewer people read newspapers, particularly people under 35. For another, 50 and 60 years ago, most major cities had at least two competing daily newspapers that often found themselves on the opposite sides of presidential contests.
But there are no longer any just a few truly competitive two-daily cities, key exceptions being New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. In the past few decades, hundreds of dailies have turned off the presses for good. It's worse some places. This year, having never recovered anywhere near its old circulation levels after Hurricane Kstrina, New Orleans became the largest U.S. city without any daily newspaper when the Times-Picayune went to three days a week.
Three years ago, in a survey of 1,000 adults, the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press revealed that a paltry 43 percent of Americans said they thought losing the local newspaper would negatively affect civic life in their community "a lot." And just 33 percent it would matter "a lot" to them personally if the local paper folded.
A dozen or so surviving daily newspapers that used to endorse in the presidential race no longer do. The Chicago Sun-Times and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel are among those that endorsed in 2008 but have quit. Some newspapers, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and the Deseret News in Salt Lake City have long-standing do-not-endorse policies.
Endorsements that seem to matter are those for local and state candidates. If they didn't matter, those candidates wouldn't still scramble to get them.
Many endorsements this year, whether they backed Mitt Romney or Barack Obama were lukewarm. A common expression in the editorials they wrote: It wasn't an easy decision to make. Only major paper, the Syracuse, New York, Post-Standard, wrote editorial saying they found neither candidate worthy of endorsing. Other editorial boards or publishers may have come to same conclusion and decided to say nothing.
Many newspapers that endorsed Barack Obama in 2008 changed course this year. By my count, 39 newspapers that endorsed Obama in 2008 are endorsing Romney this year. The
Orlando Sentinel and the
Fort Worth Star-Telegram were the biggest. Only six that endorsed John McCain are endorsing Obama. The one with the most potential impact, being in a battleground state, is the endorsement of the
Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina.
The day before the election in 2008, 407 daily and weekly newspapers had endorsed Barack Obama, against 212 for John McCain.
cMy count as of Sunday evening was 112 daily and 43 weekly or twice-weekly papers have endorsed Obama; 144 daily and 32 weekly newspapers have endorsed Romney. (It should be noted that 21 of those weeklies in Minnesota are owned by the same company.) Total circulation of the newspapers endorsing Obama: 18.8 million. Total for Romney: 11.3 million.
Below the fold you can see what the endorsement list looks like so far this year. A • means the newspaper changed parties in its endorsement for president this year compared with 2008. A ° means the newspaper didn't endorse any presidential candidate in 2008.
In comments, please add to the list any endorsements you know of that haven't been included or that I've mistakenly put in favor of the wrong candidate.
(Please continue reading below the fold)
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Barack Obama
ALABAMA
Anniston Star
The Decatur Daily
Montgomery Advertiser
Times Daily
ARIZONA
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson Weekly (Weekly)
ARKANSAS
Arkansas Times (Weekly)
CALIFORNIA
Contra Costa Times
Fremont Argus
Fresno Bee
Hayward Daily Review
La Opinión
Los Angeles Times
Marin Independent Journal
Oakland Tribune
The Sacramento Bee
San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Examiner •
San Jose Mercury News
San Mateo County Times
Santa Cruz Sentinel
Ventura County Star °
East Bay Express
Independent Coast Observer (Weekly)
The Riverside County Record (Weekly)
Sacramento News & Review (Weekly)
Santa Barbara Independent (Weekly)
COLORADO
Aspen Times
Durango Herald
The Denver Post
Daily Camera
Glenwood Springs Post Independent °
Aurora Sentinel (Weekly)
Boulder Weekly
Colorado Springs Independent (Weekly)
Out Front Colorado (Weekly)
CONNECTICUT
New Haven Register
Hartford Courant
DELAWARE
The News Journal
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
The Washington Post
FLORIDA
Miami Herald
The Tampa Bay Times
ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune
Freeport Journal-Standard
IOWA
Press-Citizen
KENTUCKY
The Courier Journal
Lexington Herald Leader
The Messenger
MAINE
Bangor Daily News
MARYLAND
Baltimore Sun
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe
Dorchester Reporter
The Republican •
MICHIGAN
AnnArbor.com
Detroit Free Press
Kalamazoo Gazette °
Muskegon Chronicle
MLive Detroit
Saginaw News (Weekly)
Bay City Times (Weekly)
The Flint Journal (Weekly)
MINNESOTA
Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Post-Bulletin
MISSOURI
Kansas City Star
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
St. Louis American
NEBRASKA
Lincoln Journal Star •
NEVADA
Las Vegas Sun
Reno News & Review (Weekly)
NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Keene Sentinel
Portsmouth Herald
Valley News
Monadnock Ledger Transcript (Weekly)
NEW JERSEY
Asbury Park News
Hunterdon Review
Madison Eagle
The News & Observer
The Record
Star Ledger
Bernardsville News (Weekly)
Echoes Sentinel (Weekly)
Hanover Eagle (Weekly)
Montclair Times (Weekly)
Mount Olive Chronicle (Weekly)
Observer Tribune (Weekly)
The Progress (Weekly)
NEW MEXICO
Las Cruces Sun-News
Santa Fe New Mexican
Taos News
NEW YORK
Buffalo News
Democrat & Chronicle
The New York Times
Poughkeepsie Journal
Staten Island Advance °
The New Yorker (magazine)
City Newspaper (Weekly)
New York Amsterdam News (Weekly)
Queens Tribune (Weekly)
NORTH CAROLINA
Asheville Citizen Times
Charlotte Observer
The News & Observer
Raleigh News & Observer
Winston-Salem Journal •
Indy Week (Weekly)
OHIO
Akron Beacon Journal
The Blade
Chillicothe Gazette °
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Mansfield News Journal
The Vindicator
Athens News (Weekly)
Cincinnati CityBeat (Weekly)
Cincinnati Herald (Weekly)
The Source (Weekly)
OREGON
Daily Astorian
East Oregonian
Eugene Register-Guard
Medford Mail Tribune
Eugene Weekly
The Skanner (Weekly)
Willamette Week
PENNSYLVANIA
Delaware County Daily Times
Erie Times
The Express Times
Patriot News
Philadelphia Daily News
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Times-Tribune
York Daily Record/Sunday News
RHODE ISLAND
Providence Journal
SOUTH CAROLINA
The Herald
TENNESSEE
Chattanooga Times
TEXAS
Del Rio News-Herald °
El Paso Times •
Houston Forward Times
San Antonio Express-News •
The Austin Chronicle (Weekly)
UTAH
Salt Lake Tribune
VERMONT
Bennington Banner
Burlington Free Press °
Manchester Journal (Weekly)
The Vermont Standard (Weekly)
VIRGINIA
Free-Lance Star °
Falls Church News-Press (Weekly)
WASHINGTON
The Everett Herald °
The Seattle Times
Seattle Medium
The News Tribune
The Olympian
Northwest Asian Weekly
Pacific Northwest Islander (Weekly)
The Stranger (Weekly)
WEST VIRGINIA
The Charleston Gazette
The Glenville Democrat (Weekly)
The Glenville Pathfinder (Weekly)
WISCONSIN
La Crosse Tribune
Wausau Daily Herald
The Capital Times (2x Weekly)
Gary Johnson
TENNESSEE
Chattanooga Free Press
MISSOURI
Saint Joseph Telegraph ° (Weekly)
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Mitt Romney
ALABAMA
The Tuscaloosa News
The Gadsden Times
ARIZONA
Arizona Republic
Casa Grande Dispatch
Prescott Daily Courier
White Mountain Independent (Weekly)
ARKANSAS
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
CALIFORNIA
North County Times
San Diego Union-Tribune
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin •
Investors Business Daily
Long Beach Press-Telegram •
Los Angeles Daily News •
Pasadena Star-News •
Press-Enterprise
Redlands Daily Facts
San Bernardino Sun •
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Torrance Daily Breeze •
Whittier Daily News
COLORADO
The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel
The Pueblo Chieftain
Longmont Times-Call
Loveland Reporter-Herald
Colorado Springs Gazette °
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
The Washington Examiner
The Washington Times
FLORIDA
The Orlando Sentinel •
Florida Times Union °
Florida Today •
Naples Daily News •
Pensacola News Journal •
South Florida Sun-Sentinel •
The Tampa Tribune
GEORGIA
Cherokee Tribune
ILLINOIS
Daily Herald •
Northwest Herald
Quincy Herald Whig °
Sauk Valley Telegraph & Gazette •
Southern Illinoisan
INDIANA
Journal & Courier •
The Times of Northwest Indiana
IOWA
Cedar Rapids Gazette
Des Moines Register •
Estherville Daily News
The Messenger
Quad-City Times •
Sioux City Journal
GEORGIA
Savannah Morning News
LOUISIANA
The Shreveport Times •
MAINE
Sun Journal °
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Herald
Cape Cod Times •
Eagle Tribune
The Sun
Sentinel & Enterprise •
Telegram & Gazette •
MICHIGAN
Royal Oak Daily Tribune •
Detroit News
Grand Rapids Press
Jackson City Patriot
Macomb Daily
MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune
Bemidji Pioneer
The Republican Eagle
West Central Tribune
Duluth Budgeteer News (Weekly)
Alexandria Echo-Press (Weekly)
Becker County Record (Weekly)
Blackduck American (Weekly)
Detroit Lakes Tribune (Weekly)
East Ottertail Focus (Weekly)
Farmington Independent (Weekly)
Hancock Record (Weekly)
Hastings Star-Gazette (Weekly)
Lake Area Press (Weekly)
Lake County News Chronicle (Weekly)
Morris Sun Tribune (Weekly)
Osakis Review (Weekly)
Park Rapids Enterprise (Weekly)
Rosemount Town Pages (Weekly)
South Washington County Bulletin (Weekly)
The Pine Journal (Weekly)
Wadena Pioneer Journal (Weekly)
Woodbury Bulletin (Weekly)
Worthington Daily Globe (Weekly)
MISSOURI
Joplin Globe •
MONTANA
Billings Gazette •
NEBRASKA
Aurora News Register
Omaha World Herald
Newman Grove Reporter
Scottsbluff Star Herald
NEVADA
Elko Daily Free Press
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Reno Gazette Journal •
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Foster's Daily Democrat
Monadnock Ledger-Transcript
The Telegraph •
Union-Leader
NEW MEXICO
Albuquerque Journal •
NEW YORK
Dunkirk Observer
New York Daily News •
New York Post
Newsday •
The New York Observer • (Weekly)
NORTH CAROLINA
The Daily Reflector
NORTH DAKOTA
The Bismarck Tribune
Minot Daily News
Grand Forks Herald
Jamestown Sun
The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead
Dickinson Press (Weekly)
West Fargo Pioneer (Weekly)
OHIO
Cincinnati Enquirer
Columbus Dispatch
The Courier
The Lima News °
The Marietta Times
The Morning Journal
The Review
Salem News
Tribune Chronicle
The Advertiser Tribune
The Buckeye Lake Beacon (Weekly)
OKLAHOMA
The Oklahoman
Tulsa World
OREGON
Grants Pass Daily Courier
Statesman-Journal •
McMinnville News-Register (Weekly)
Yamhill News-Register (Weekly)
PENNSYLVANIA
Altoona Mirror
Intelligencer-Journal •
Lancaster New Era
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Williamsport Sun Gazette
SOUTH CAROLINA
The Post and Courier
SOUTH DAKOTA
Mitchell Daily Reporter
TENNESSEE
Jackson Sun
The Tennessean •
TEXAS
Beaumont Enterprise
Bryan Eagle
The Dallas Morning News
Fort Worth Star-Telegram •
Galveston Daily News
Houston Chronicle •
Laredo Morning News
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
The Lufkin Daily News
San Angelo Standard-Times
Tyler Morning Telegraph
Waco Tribune-Herald
VIRGINIA
Daily Press
Danville Register & Bee
Northern Virginia Daily
Richmond Times Dispatch
The Winchester Star
WASHINGTON
Spokesman Review
The Vancouver Columbian •
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
WEST VIRGINIA
Bluefield Daily Telegraph •
Charleston Daily Mail
Huntington Herald Dispatch •
The Inter-Mountain
Martinsburg Journal
Parkersburg News and Sentinel
Weirton Daily Times
The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register
WISCONSIN
Green Bay Press Gazette
Superior Telegram
Wisconsin State Journal •
Hudson Star-Observer (Weekly)
New Richmond News (Weekly)
Pierce County Herald (Weekly)
River Falls Journal (Weekly)
Sun Prairie Star (Weekly)
WYOMING
Casper Star-Tribune •
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