Newspaper endorsements don’t empower citizens

Newspapers in America should empower citizens to take their government by the reins and direct it.

Unfortunately, as with other powers that have so much influence over the game in Washington, many newspapers resort instead to trying to direct the actions of citizens.

I’m referring to the common practice of newspaper endorsements. Just this weekend, the Des Moines Register endorsed Hillary Clinton and John McCain in the presidential race, and the Boston Globe endorsed Barack Obama and McCain.

Why? Well, the editorial boards at both newspapers have their reasons, and they’re based in part on intense interviews with the candidates. But they’re also based on a lot of lobbying and, in the case of the Register, there was the entertaining of the editorial board at a Des Moines bar by the Clinton campaign.

How is that any different than a lobbyist wining and dining a public official to win a vote?

Almost a decade ago, the student newspaper at New Mexico State University, under my direction as its editor, endorsed candidates in student government elections. To be honest, I believed at the time that I was more educated about the candidates and the issues, and that somehow made my opinion more important or valid than those of other students.

But over time I came to believe that the biggest problem in our democracy is that citizens don’t take control. They instead allow corporate lobbyists and other powers, including the media, to direct their government.

When I started this site in March 2006, I considered whether I should endorse candidates. Though my support has been sought by many, I have ultimately decided against issuing endorsements.

That’s because, for democracy to succeed, citizens, not entrenched powers, must direct the actions of their government. I have come to believe that my opinion isn’t any more valid than that of any other citizen, and I don’t see endorsing candidates as an appropriate use of my site.

I started my Web site to help empower people in Southern New Mexico by giving them a way to become informed about their state government, located 300 miles away in Santa Fe. My hope was that filling such a void would help lead to a new level of involvement from an area of the state typically ignored by and disconnected from Santa Fe.

Using that forum to try to influence people to vote my way seemed to be counter to my goal of helping them become educated and make their own decisions.

I’m not arguing that newspaper editorial boards should never share opinions. They are generally educated groups of people who can speak intelligently about issues. But there’s a difference between opining on the actions of government and endorsing candidates. The first is an attempt to influence government; the second is an attempt to exert undue influence over its citizens.

The Register and Globe endorsements are highly coveted and will have an effect on the presidential election. I believe that’s unfortunate. Newspapers should challenge citizens to take control of their democracy, not give them a crutch to lean on when they don’t.

A version of this article will be published this week on the Diary of a Mad Voter blog published by both the Denver Post’s Politics West and the independent Web site NewWest.net.