The publication, owned by hedge fund Alden Global Capital, the country’s second-largest newspaper, will no longer endorse major political candidates on its opinion pages.
In an editorial that will appear in the newspaper as early as Friday, the company’s publication will tell readers it will stop endorsing candidates in presidential, senate and gubernatorial elections.
An editorial copy was obtained by The New York Times. Alden confirmed its content and timing.
“Unfortunately, as public discourse has become more and more caustic, the common ground between the conflicting forces of the culture wars has become a no man’s land,” according to a copy of the planned editorial.
“At the same time, misinformation and disinformation are on the rise, so readers are often confused about the difference between news articles, opinion pieces and editorials, especially online.”
Alden Global Capital owns approximately 200 newspapers in the United States, including the Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News and Denver Post. Only Gannett, which owns newspapers such as USA Today, runs more than that.
The editorial will run in newspapers that have traditionally supported the candidate, rather than in all Alden Group newspapers, according to people familiar with the plan.
US newspapers, including The New York Times, have a long tradition of endorsing candidates.In recent years, however, some media outlets have questioned the practice or even decided to do away with it altogether.The Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia Said The 2018 cycle will be the last. Ahead of the 2020 presidential election, major newspaper chain McClatchy said a newspaper would not endorse it unless it interviewed both candidates.
Alden, the Baltimore Sun, Chicago Tribune and Denver Post, will be allowed to continue their support this season, the person said. The newspapers plan to announce they will end the practice after this election cycle, according to people familiar with the company’s plans.
The editorial said the paper would continue to report on political parties, but would “no longer support presidential or increasingly nationalized gubernatorial or senatorial elections.”
“We want to ensure that opinion pages foster healthy and productive public debate,” he said. We will focus our efforts on more local competitions, including issues that have told us they continue to have great value in our lives.”