Different Papers, Different Endorsements

Before I get to my analysis, I thought that this was an interesting list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper_endorsements_in_the_United_States_presidential_election,_2012

This Wikipedia entry shows which daily newspapers endorsed Obama or Romney this year. The thing that I found to be the most interesting is that many of the papers that endorsed Romney are underdog papers. I’m not really sure why this would be or what the significance of this trend is, but I thought it was worth noting.

The first endorsement I read was from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (http://triblive.com/opinion/editorials/2786321-74/mitt-romney-president-america-policy-government-obama-public-scandal-think#axzz29tLmOFVd).  They endorsed Mitt Romney, claiming that President Obama’s administration has been rife with scandal. While they spend a lot of their endorsement bashing Obama, all they really manage to say about Romney is that he is a “good and decent man and proven politician.” It’s a short editorial, so when they do commend Romney, they do so in a rather broad and unspecific way. Throughout this election, all I personally have been looking for is specifics. When sources, whether they be the candidates themselves or media outlets, fail to give specific information, it is frustrating. Even though this is an editorial, the Tribune-Review should be able to go into more detail than they actually do.

The Chicago Tribune (http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-10-26/news/chi-obama-endorsement-chicago-tribune-20121026_1_president-obama-barack-obama-tax-cuts/2), however, writes a lengthy and thorough endorsement for President Obama’s re-election. They focus on several issues the nation will face, and spend the entire first part of the column going into detail about the things Obama has done over his tenure in office that they find favorable, as well as the things they hope he can continue to do. It isn’t even until nearly the second page of the editorial that they start to talk about what they find unfavorable about Romney.

Perhaps the differences between the styles and content in each of the endorsements are telling signs as to why the Tribune is such a prominent publication, while the Tribune-Review is an underdog paper.

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