Do newspaper endorsements matter?
Not everyone thinks so. In a 2008 study by the Pew Research Center, 69 percent of respondents said a newspaper endorsement had “no effect” on their vote.
But a research paper published in the National Bureau of Economic Research that year found an exception: When they were unexpected. For example, if a conservative editorial board endorsed a Democrat or a liberal editorial board endorsed a Republican.
It’s still early for newspaper endorsements for Republican Donald Trump, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Libertarian Gary Johnson, but already there have been a few…
