Newspaper owners decide who to endorse, not woke reporters or editorial writers
The lunatics don't run the asylum
So-called journalists are rankled over the decision by the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post not to endorse a candidate in the presidential election.
More actually, they are in orbit over the publishers’ decision not to endorse the Democrat Kamala Harris.
How dare he! Who does he think he is! What makes him think he’s smarter than we are!? He’s killing democracy!!!
Take a deep breath, draw a glass of water and have seat. Here’s a news flash: Publishers—the people who own the newspaper—have the right to endorse or not to endorse. That’s the way it has always been. That’s the way it will continue to be for as long as publishers own the newspaper and the so-called journalists work for them.
As it should be.
And yet:
The Times editorial page editor Mariel Garza resigned because of the non-endorsement, whimpering the decision of the publisher, Soon-Shiong’s decision was “craven.”
The Post editor-at-large Robert Kagan resigned in response to the non-endorsemen. Eighteen Post opinion writers publicly protested the decision. Author Stephen King cancelled his subscription. Post icons Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were annoyed.
National Public Radio (the left-wing megaphone supported in part by taxpayers) tsk-tsked:
“One of the central media stories in the U.S. right now is the people who run big media companies making accommodations for a second Trump presidency and thinking about how to avoid antagonizing him,” Ben Smith, editor-in-chief and co-founder of the news site Semafor, tells NPR.
Oh, the humanity!
Not surprisingly, fact-twisting became a part of the storm. Here’s one from NPR:
Publishers and owners have the right to weigh in on endorsements, of course, and often do so. This time, Soon-Shiong says he wanted something different. [Emphasis added.]
No, no, no. They don’t have the right to “weigh in” in endorsements. They have a right to decide the endorsements.
The New York Times has endorsed every Democratic candidate since John F. Kennedy, including the far-left mega-loser George McGovern. Apparently, it was fully appropriate for the publisher to decide, as long as it conformed to the newsrooms long-standing liberal slant.
I worked for a newspaper whose owner decided to endorse Richard Nixon for president. That’s not what the editorial board wanted, but instead of making asses of themselves, they knew who the boss was. The editorial page editor wrote the Nixon endorsement.
I’m not minimizing the concern that Donald Trump’s mouth that roars has implied that he’d pull the federally issued licenses of TV networks that don’t toe the line. Trump’s minimal grasp of political, legal and constitutional realities indeed makes him someone to be feared.
But that doesn’t change the centuries-old reality: Owners own and they have the right to endorse. The employees don’t.