• by Ray Schultz , August 12, 2024

The New York Times, a journalistic model throughout the country, will cease making endorsements in local elections. 

The Times will continue endorsing presidential candidates, as it has since 1860, the paper writes. But it will no longer take a position in Senate, congressional or state legislative races, and it will not endorse a candidate in next year’s New York City mayoral race, although it has done so in elections since 1897.  

Among the races that will be affected by the change is that of Mayor Eric Adams seeking re-election next year.

This could portend similar shifts throughout the news business. Alden Global Capital, which operates 200 newspapers, announced in 2022 that it would no longer endorse candidates from the president level on down, the Times reports. 

And, the Baltimore Sun, which is under new ownership, will also stop making endorsements. 

It is not clear why publishers are making these moves. Is it based in fear of exposure, or is there a deeper political motive in some cases?

Times Opinion editor Kathleen Kingsbury says, “Opinion will continue to offer perspective on the races, candidates and issues at stake.”

Kingsbury, while not giving a reason for the change, notes that the Times is a journalistic institution “rooted in New York City,” the Times reports. 

The Opinion section and the editorial board that makes endorsements, which is part of the Opinion section, are separate from the Times newsroom.