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Newspaper Endorsements and Voter Behavior in the 1980 Presidential Election

Newspaper editors and researchers seem uncertain about the effect of political endorsements, especially the endorsements published during presidential elections. Classic election studies conducted during the 1940s revealed that voters are more likely to be influenced by personal factors (by their party affiliations, families and friends, for example) than by the media. Later studies found that the political endorsements published by daily newspapers are more likely to affect the voters in local than in state and national elections. Researchers explained that voters receive more information about the candidates in state and national elections and consequently are less dependent upon the media's recommendations. Two recent studies have challenged some of those earlier findings and demonstrated a need for more research. Both studies have found that political endorsements may have a greater impact than previously imagined, especially in state and national elections. The issue is of great concern to newspaper editors. A growing percentage of the nation's daily newspapers remain uncommitted during political campaigns, and many editors explain they have stopped publishing endorsements because they believe endorsements are ineffective.' Typically, an editor interviewed after the 1980 presidential election declared, "I've never seen a voter carry a copy of my editorial with him into a voting booth."^ On the other hand, many editors who endorsed a candidate in the 1980 presidential election later insisted that their endorsement helped the candidate win. Other editors who continue to publish political endorsements say that newspapers