Forum Complicates 'No-Endorsement' Experiment At Grand Forks

By: Mark Fitzgerald The Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald is not making any political endorsements this election year. But its editorial page Wednesday ran several endorsements in races in North Dakota and Minnesota across the river, urging the reelection of Kent Conrad, described as "one of the smartest members of the (U.S.) Senate," and a No vote on Constitutional Measure Number 3 that would limit eminent domain.

But those weren't Herald endorsements.

Does that clear everything up?

The endorsement confusion on the Herald editorial pages is one small bit of fallout from the sale of the one-time Knight Ridder paper to Forum Communications Co. of Fargo, N.D.

In a column in Sunday's Herald, Editor and Publisher Mike Jacobs said the newspaper, after much discussion and dissension, decided earlier this year not to make its traditional election endorsements. Instead, Editorial Page Editor Tom Dennis convinced Jacob and other members of the editorial board to run extensive interviews of the candidates that would run on its Web site.

So when the North Dakota primary came in June, the Herald made no political endorsements.

During the run-up to the primary, however, the newsroom was riveted on news more immediate than political campaigns. Their parent Knight Ridder was bought by The McClatchy Co. -- which immediately announced that it was selling a dozen of the papers that didn't fit its market standards.

The Grand Forks Herald was among them.

The sale, as it happened, closed in late June, after the primary.

With the new owner came a new change in policy, Jacobs, who did not immediately return a phone message from E&P Thursday, told readers.

"The Forum Company has quite a different approach to endorsements than did the Herald or its previous owner, Knight Ridder," he wrote. "Knight Ridder never suggested an editorial position or endorsement. In contrast, all Forum-owned newspapers endorse the same candidates in statewide races and take the same positions on statewide ballot measures."

Jacobs and Editorial Page Editor Dennis presented their case for no endorsements to Forum owner Bill Marcil and President Lloyd Case, but to no avail. "Endorsements are an important responsibility of newspaper ownership, Marcil told us," Jacobs wrote.

So on Wednesday, the Herald published a list of candidates with the caveat "these endorsements represent the opinion of FCC." (Forum Communications Co.).

The picks are only for statewide races and initiatives, and most are simply a listing of names.

No endorsements will be made in local races or ballot measures, Jacobs told readers.

Ironically, Jacobs, who called the interviews-rather-than-endorsements experiment "a success," said he thinks newspapers should endorse candidates.

"Election endorsements have been an element of newspapers for generations, and I believe they are useful as an additional piece of information about a candidate," he wrote. The exception: presidential endorsements. "I see little reason to make them," he said.

So what does Jacobs think of Forum's picks?

"Personally, I don't intend to take the Forum Company's advice in all the races," he wrote. "Of course, I never felt bound by the Herald's editorial advice, either."