The editor of The Sydney Morning Herald Bevan Shields will look at the subject of newspaper editorials in his subscriber letter this week.
In the US, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times upset many of their subscribers recently, by deciding not to publish editorials endorsing either of the candidates for US President.
Covering its own story this week, the Washington newspaper reported:
At least 250,000 Washington Post readers have cancelled their subscriptions since the news organization announced Friday that the editorial page would end its decades-long practice of endorsing presidential candidates. The figures represent about 10 percent of The Post’s digital subscribers.
On a visit to The Sydney Morning Herald this week, Mediaweek asked Bevan Shields about his policy on election editorials and endorsements.
“Everyone has a different view on this, and I understand the arguments for not doing it,” Shields told Mediaweek. “It’s been pretty messy in the US in that they claim to have made a call that’s about impartiality, seemingly at the last minute.
“My personal view is I’m still a big believer in newspaper editorials. I think readers want a sense or an understanding of what the paper believes in. I think readers are smart enough to know that editorials don’t change the course of history and don’t necessarily influence things a lot.
“People want a sense of what the paper believes in. And that doesn’t mean it has to influence our news coverage. My view is if you’re doing an editorial every day of the week on whatever you think might be important that day, it’s pretty implausible to sit out the biggest news event, potentially for decades, and not have an opinion on that.”
Shields said he doesn’t feel election editorial would change votes. And he added they do annoy some readers.
He also noted that US election coverage is generating strong traffic at the Nine Publishing title.
“It’s something that has been ticking along for a while. Notably from February this year when I think we realised that Trump was actually a serious prospect of getting the nomination and possibly winning.
“It has really engaged readers. Our reporting has been great, and particularly in the opinion space for us too. It’s been a really big topic for subscribers and new subscribers coming to us.”
See also: From Alan Jones to Merivale: The SMH’s Bevan Shields and Kate McClymont on major investigations