Media News

Crain’s Chicago ends political endorsements

Jim Kirk, the publisher and executive editor of Crain’s Chicago Business, writes about why the publication is ending political endorsements.

Kirk writes, “We no longer see value, however, in drawing a conclusion on behalf of our readers about who best should lead the city and the state from City Hall, from the Governor’s Mansion or from the halls of the U.S. Senate.

“Another factor in our thinking is the hyper-partisan era in which we now do our work. At this point in, say, the governor’s race, we are fairly confident most of our readers have already made up their minds. In fact, early voting has already begun. An endorsement, in that context, can do one of two things: either affirm for readers that their previously formed preference is correct, or give those who disagree a reason to think our coverage of the campaign and, unfortunately, everything else, is biased in favor of the endorsed candidate.

“Crain’s reporting is and always will be independent and rigorous. But at a time when trust in the media generally is at a low point, we’re cognizant that anything we do that erodes that trust further is a mistake. And given the plethora of political information that’s readily available now, continuing an endorsement tradition rooted in the days when such information was scarce is unnecessary.”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.

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