Morris: We remain confident in our decision to pause endorsements

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes a mix of commentary online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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With one week remaining until Election Day, yet another consequential development in the race for president has emerged. A heated debate over newspaper endorsements — or lack thereof — has flared.

The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times — two of the nation’s flagship media institutions — announced last week that they will offer no endorsement in the 2024 presidential election.

The announcements by the Post and the Times thrust our own decision to forgo endorsements this year back into national conversations. The public responses range from strong support to deep concern to pointed questions regarding motivation. While we cannot address the decisions of other news platforms to forgo a presidential endorsement, we remain confident in our decision.

Before the public announcement of our reboot to the Minnesota Star Tribune in August, we decided that part of our new election approach would be a pause on endorsements and that we would instead offer studied perspectives of key issues relevant to the most important contests. Rather than serve up the usual, we decided to offer analysis and react to the candidates’ statements and proposals. We decided to lean into the voters’ ability to cut the cacophony of election noise and form their own opinions.

We made this decision as part of our transformation into Strib Voices, a new approach to opinion journalism that we think is unique in local news. One of the most important things we can do as your state news organization is seek out, curate and elevate voices from all across the political, geographic and demographic spectrum. We think you deserve a dynamic and fascinating collection of voices from across Minnesota, not simply one institutional voice above all others.

We heard from you in the aftermath; some really liked the approach; others labeled it a retrenchment from civic duty, and still others have adopted a wait-and-see approach.

Our unrelenting aim is to use the tools of opinion journalism in more empowering ways. We will continue to search for and find creative, new ways to add value to a voting experience — rather than reduce our analysis to binary recommendations.

From the onset, we called our decision to pause endorsements an experiment. It wasn’t a forever decision. That remains true. After Nov. 5 has passed, we intend to continue public conversations already underway about how we best serve our loyal readers and grow new audiences throughout the entire state of Minnesota. The editorial endorsement construct remains a tool that may still offer value, especially in state and local races.

In this age of polarization and bitter division, we believe our primary role as opinion leaders is to identify and host the most important conversations that unite and grow communities. We will work tirelessly to avoid counterproductive quicksand on either side of partisan debates.

This critical undertaking is not aspirational; we believe it’s essential to our continued evolution in the way we serve all of Minnesota. We recognize the endeavor boils down to trust that is developed and retained through careful listening, deep awareness and, yes, the ability to evolve.

We will continue to use our opinion pages to shine a bright light on leadership and hold it accountable. That is a role we have long embraced and will continue to embrace after Election Day and the inauguration of the 47th president of the United States.