Journalism and American Democracy

Although in many places, the presidential election was the focus of the day, it seems that that particular election was hardly at the forefront of the minds of many Minnesotans. In fact, the news of Barack Obama’s reelection did not even crack the 10 “Most Viewed” stories on the Pioneer Press website, and only appeared five stories down on Star Tribune’s “Most read” list, below “Downtown Mpls. restaurants under scrutiny over disabled accommodations.” Arguably, it is understandable that the presidential election was not the main focus in Minnesota, as it is not a swing state, having granted its electoral votes to the Democratic candidate in every election since Richard Nixon’s 1972 win. It is also important to note that in Minnesota, there were two amendments of great magnitude on the ballot – a voter ID amendment and a marriage amendment.  Judging by the list of most read stories on the two major newspapers’ sites and the buzz I viewed on various social media outlets, the defeat of these two amendments was bigger news for many people in Minnesota than the reelection of Obama. The reelection of Michele Bachmann, an extremely controversial conservative U.S. Representative who has gained nationwide notoriety, by a mere 4,207 votes, was closely watched across the state – and likely the nation. Kare 11, the local NBC affiliate in the Twin Cities, was live tweeting the vote count, as it was extremely tight throughout the evening. This station, along with other broadcasts and newspapers, tended to tweet results so as to keep the voters informed, but also encouraged the viewing and reading of traditional news sources, as evident in Kare 11’s last tweet of the night: “Bachmann defeats Graves in tight 6th District race. Tune in to KARE 11 Sunrise starting at 4:30am for the latest.

Since I could not follow the election coverage on a local station as I would have if I had been at home, I settled for following Kare 11’s twitter feed and the CNN website, as I watched the CNN broadcast. It was convenient that the CNN site offered state-by-state coverage, but it was also interesting to see how they prioritized the results. Obviously, since CNN is a nationwide network, the Minnesota presidential results were featured at the top. They would also display “Key Races,” essentially meaning close races or those that might hold wide interest, such as the Bachmann v. Graves race. They also prioritized amendment initiatives, as the results of the marriage amendment were being prominently displayed, but it was very challenging to find out any information regarding the voter ID amendment. Truly, across various media sources, the marriage amendment appears to have taken precedence over all other contests, including the presidential race. In the days and weeks leading up to the election, there was a proliferation of “VOTE NO” statuses, profile pictures, cover photos, and stories being posted on Facebook, with little noticeable buzz regarding Barack Obama or Mitt Romney.  As one Pioneer Press article is entitled “Minnesota Republicans lose big, face tough two years ahead,” it seems the focus in Minnesota was less on Obama’s win, and more on the uncertain future of the Republican party as a whole as it faced major setbacks in Minnesota and elsewhere in the 2012 election.

Although the Star Tribune and the Pioneer Press both cover news for the Twin Cities in Minnesota, the papers have different policies when it comes to newspaper endorsements in presidential elections. Particularly in a race that is as close as this one is purported to be, it is understandable that a newspaper would choose not to endorse either candidate, for fear of alienation of its readership.  In an article he wrote regarding the phenomenon of endorsements, David Brauer quotes the editor of the Pioneer Press, Mike Burbach, as stating, “We just wanted to do it this way, this year. At this moment, it’s more comfortable for me.” Although the paper still publishes editorials regarding the election, as well as interviews with the candidates, Burbach states, upon receiving little feedback from the paper’s readership: “I guess that tells me people are going to make up their own minds, whether you do endorsements or not, and they have ever-more sources of information.”

While the Pioneer Press has not endorsed a candidate in this presidential election nor the previous, the Star Tribune has followed a different pattern.  The paper, with nearly 100,000 more readers than the Pioneer Press, has endorsed Obama for the second election in a row.  The Editorial Board made the endorsement despite “disappointment over the lost opportunities of his first four years.”  The Board cites concerns about Romney’s tendency to adapt his image depending on the circumstance, as they write, “But who can be certain which Romney will appear next? How can any American be sure where he stands on gay rights, immigration, climate change, reproductive rights and investment in education?” While it may seem like a risky move for the Star Tribune to endorse a candidate for presidency when its rival newspaper has elected not to dole out an endorsement, this is hardly the case.  As the state with the longest voting streak in the nation, in this case, for Democratic presidential candidates, it is treated as a given among Minnesota citizens that it is and always will be a blue state. When a friend of mine turned eighteen years old shortly before the 2008 presidential election, her dad said to her, “As a conservative living in Minnesota, get used to just throwing your vote away.”  Surely this is an extreme view of inefficacy, however the voting record of Minnesota speaks for itself.  While it is interesting that one paper chose to give an endorsement while the other did not, an endorsement of Obama is hardly surprising. An endorsement of Romney in Minnesota? That would be an article worth reading.

The following are links to the Minnpost article regarding the Pioneer Press’s non-endorsement, as well as the endorsement of Obama by the Star Tribune:

http://www.minnpost.com/braublog/2012/10/why-st-paul-pioneer-press-dropped-political-endorsements

http://www.startribune.com/opinion/editorials/176032451.html?refer=y

For extra information, this link displays general election endorsements by the top 100 newspapers based on daily circulation for both 2008 and 2012:

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/data/2012_newspaper_endorsements.php