Here's another update of newspaper endorsements for president

This is the third update chronicling which newspapers are endorsing which presidential candidates. As noted previously, many observers believe that newspaper endorsements no longer have much impact on how people vote. That is in part because so many fewer people read newspapers, particularly people under 35. Even for those Americans who still do read newspapers, the endorsements that really seem to matter aren't those for candidates at the top of the party tickets but rather for local races.

A small but growing numbers of daily newspapers that used to endorse in the presidential race no longer do. But despite the evidence that they aren't being listened to even by the people who do read them, editors continue to write those endorsements, particularly at the nation's largest newspapers.

In one arena they may have an impact: swing states where the vote is likely to be close. Dan Schnur, the director of the Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California and veteran of four presidential races, told NPR:

If you are the newspaper in the most important swing market in the most important swing state in a very close presidential election, you still matter a lot. And the Columbus Dispatch endorsement really does matter.

That endorsement in the crucial state of Ohio went to Mitt Romney. But Barack Obama got the endorsement of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Akron Beacon-Journal.
As mentioned in previous posts on this subject, serious tracking of newspaper endorsements was begun in 2004 by Greg Mitchell, who then was editor of the newspaper trade journal Editor and Publisher, which is now published only on line. Mitchell currently writes for The Nation.

The day before the election in 2004, he had tallied 273 daily and weekly newspaper endorsements for John Kerry to George W. Bush's 205. The day before the election in 2008, 407 daily and weekly newspapers had endorsed Barack Obama, against 212 for John McCain. Among the 123 members of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, 57 had endorsed Obama; zero McCain.

With 10 days to go before the 2012 election, 61 daily and 28 weekly or twice-weekly papers have endorsed Obama; 91 daily and 27 weekly newspapers have endorsed Romney. It should be noted that 20 of Romney's weekly endorsements come from small-circulation papers in Minnesota owned by Forum Communications.

Total circulation of the newspapers endorsing Obama: 12.8 million
Total for Romney: 7.5 million

Twelve major newspapers (those of 75,000 circulation and more) are not endorsing this year. Some traditionally do not do so; others have recently chosen not to do so. The 12: The Wall Street Journal; USA Today; Chicago Sun-Times; The Oregonian; Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel; Deseret News; Knoxville News Sentinel; Sarasota Herald-Tribune; Daytona Beach News-Journal; Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Indianpolis Star; and the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Below the fold you can see what the endorsement list looks like so far this year. A ' means the newspaper changed parties in its endorsement for president this year compared with 2008. A ° means the newspaper didn't endorse any presidential candidate in 2008.

In comments, please add to the list any endorsements you know of that haven't been included or that I've mistakenly put in favor of the wrong candidate.

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