To endorse or not to endorse

To endorse or not to endorse

The Muck Rack Weekly newsletter includes some of the most talked about stories in the journalism and public relations communities over the past week, and does not necessarily reflect the editorial opinion of Muck Rack.

Media statistic of the week

We’ve got some bad news, and we’ve got some good news.

The bad news first: in 2023, newspapers in the U.S. closed at a rate of more than two per week.

Onto the good news –? “A burst of activity among digital entrepreneurs illustrated some tiny shoots of growth in what has become a desert-like climate for local news,” the Associated Press’ David Bauder reports.?

81 digital sites launched in 2023 , according to data collected by Medill Local News Initiative at Northwestern University.

Some more positivity: “Of the new digital sites, some 90 percent are located in metropolitan areas, servicing communities that had been seeing less coverage because of job losses at larger news outlets,” Bauder writes.?

“Although 127 newspapers closed last year, a net 81 digital sites launched. Which is nice, but hopefully these new news operations find ways to survive!” Brian Compere wrote on X.?

This past week in the media industry

To endorse or not to endorse

USA Today says it’s joining The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times in not endorsing a presidential candidate this election, reports Josh Fiallo from The Daily Beast.

In 2020, USA Today broke with “decades-old tradition” to endorse Joe Biden for president.

Fiallo reports “a spokesperson for the paper told the Daily Beast on Monday that it will instead focus on providing ‘readers with the facts that matter and the trusted information they need to make informed decisions.’”

This came on the heels of a tumultuous week for The Washington Post, where the paper lost more than 200,000 subscribers in the last three days since ending a 50-year tradition of presidential endorsements, according to Semafor’s Ben Smith and Max Tani .

Some more detail from Smith and Tani:

“The consumer backlash to the Post reveals the extent to which the publication’s positioning against Trump was — in a literal, rather than cynical sense — marketing.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans didn’t necessarily feel they needed the Post’s journalism or its service products, but they did want Journalism with a capital J, a force willing to take Trump on directly and to absorb his wrath when other institutions weren’t.”

Here’s what The Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos had to say about the decision in an op-ed:

“Presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election. No undecided voters in Pennsylvania are going to say, “I’m going with Newspaper A’s endorsement.” None. What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence. Ending them is a principled decision, and it’s the right one.”

“*billionaire interferes in newspaper’s editorial decisions* Billionaire: People don’t trust the media!” writes Karla Miller on X.?

The LA Times also lost subscribers in a similar announcement:

“A decision by the owner of the Los Angeles Times not to endorse in the 2024 presidential race — after the paper’s editorial board proposed backing Kamala Harris — has created a tempest, prompting three members of the board to resign and provoking thousands of readers to cancel their subscriptions,” James Rainey from the LA Times reports.?

Meanwhile, The Guardian gained some positive press and funds for their endorsement of Kamala Harris, according to Semafor’s Max Tani . :

“Guardian US editor Betsy Reed sent out an email to readers touting her publication’s endorsement of Harris earlier this month and soliciting membership support. The callout to readers of the American version of the British newspaper worked: They pledged more than $1.1 million between Reed’s email going out on Friday and Saturday evening, the biggest single fundraising day for the Guardian’s US operation.”

Get caught up on a few other election media stories:

A few more

For the first time since 1888, The Baltimore Sun will be without any culture coverage. The Sun dissolved its features team, according to The Wrap’s Josh Dickey.?

From the Muck Rack team

The 2024 U.S. election is less than one week away.

Should PR professionals continue business as usual when it comes to media relations, or is pitching leading up to Election Day a no-go?

We checked in with PR coach Michael Smart and freelance journalist Aly Walansky to get the lowdown on how to approach pitching journalists during a hotly-contested election season.

Spoiler: Don’t assume pitching is a no-go!

“Although 127 newspapers closed last year, a net 81 digital sites launched. Which is nice, but hopefully these new news operations find ways to survive!” — Brian Compere #quoteoftheday ???

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