In an update posted on October 22, Sherry Sylvester suggested why the state’s major newspapers would endorse President Bush’s re-election:
The guys who are watching the bottom line at the big Texas papers know that media credibility is already at a record low. With declines in circulation and daily copy sales, Texas publishers will think long and hard before they invite the wave of subscription cancellations that would surely result if they took a stand against the President.
Just as the Boston Globe had little choice but to endorse Sen. John Kerry, in 2000 all of the states [sic] major newspapers endorsed Bush.
The Chronicle endorsed President Bush today, following the lead of the DFW and San Antonio newspapers.
When accused of bias, the Chronicle frequently resorts to tired claims that it gets angry letters from both liberals and conservatives, and therefore it’s not biased. One can expect it to use its endorsement of President Bush for similar cover, another prediction offered by Sylvester:
Unfortunately, the Bush endorsements provide convenient cover for those reporters and editors who shamelessly slant the daily news. They will point to editorial page support for the president as proof their newspaper is balanced.
But the endorsements will not effect on the chronic bias that permeates the Texas news coverage in numerous ways from opinion driven news stories to misleading headlines. The endorsements will not counter the slanted political and public policy messages which are published in place of balanced news reports.
Texas journalists often insist that they are as hard on liberal Democrats as conservative Republicans and that may have been true at one time.
But those of us who monitor bias in the Texas press know those even-handed days are long gone
