On Sept. 30, a 34-year history changed for Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: GCI)-owned USA Today. The newspaper’s editorial board took sides in the presidential race.
Here it is in their words: “We’ve expressed opinions about the major issues and haven’t presumed to tell our readers, who have a variety of priorities and values, which choice is best for them. Because every presidential race is different, we revisit our no-endorsement policy every four years. We’ve never seen reason to alter our approach. Until now.”
Despite a lengthy and well reasoned list of values that have prevented political endorsements or denouncements in the past, Gannett officials made the drastic shift citing only one reason: “Donald Trump is, by unanimous consensus of the editorial board, unfit for the presidency.” It should be noted the USA Editorial Board also doesn’t have a consensus for an endorsement of Hillary Clinton.
Some things never change, no matter what. In the 36-year history of Springfield Business Journal, you’ve not seen us lean a little left or a little right in news coverage, and we’ve certainly never endorsed a political candidate.
Our list of reasons will keep us true to that commitment.
First, SBJ is committed to being the local business authority, your go-to source on all things business. A participant in a recent blind SBJ focus group said, “If it isn’t in Springfield Business Journal, it didn’t happen or it wasn’t important.” The enormity of that statement isn’t lost on us. We have an obligation and a sense of duty to strive for complete business reporting.
Second, the effectiveness of the SBJ editorial team is largely dependent upon the relationships they have built in the business community. These relationships were built on trust. Sources trust that when an SBJ reporter tells the story, they won’t be quoted out of context. They trust they won’t be used to further a political agenda or be judged by readers and colleagues as liberal or conservative because they talked to us.
Third, SBJ has a highly educated readership. A 2015 Circulation Verification Council audit of SBJ readers indicates 79 percent have a college education and nearly 30 percent earned a master’s degree or higher. Further, 70 percent of SBJ readers serve professionally in some decision-making capacity as a business owner, partner, president, CEO, vice president, executive, general manager or department head.
While readers look to us for timely, accurate and thorough business news and information, they aren’t looking to us to make important decisions for them or tell them how to think.
Finally, SBJ is not governed by an editorial board. Many papers – particularly daily, general interest publications – choose to have an editorial board that is presumably made up of a cross-section of the community that forms opinion by consensus on controversial issues. The existence of an editorial board creates a separation between the opinions it expresses and the unbiased reporting of the news team. But does it really? Once a news organization comes down on one side of a particular issue or candidacy, it is perceived as biased by many readers. We will continue to look to focus groups, readership surveys and advisory committees from time-to-time to tell us what is important, but we won’t ask anyone else to shape our collective opinion on controversial issues. And that’s really my point here. You shouldn’t either.
Let your own inner voice be heard. The stakes are high in the 2016 presidential election, as they are every four years. Our next president will impact local business issues directly and indirectly in enumerable ways. SBJ has no advice for you on who to vote for. The only opinion expressed here is our complete confidence in you.
You will make a decision when you show up to the polls on Nov. 8.
Springfield Business Journal Publisher Jennifer Jackson can be reached at jjackson@sbj.net.
