James Warren at Poynter MediaWire noted that last week, Bernie Sanders picked up the endorsement of the Communications Workers of America, a 600,000-member union that includes 26,000 members of the NewsGuild – representing “journalists at The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Boston Globe, San Jose Mercury News, digital start-up Truthout and the digital operations at many, but not all, big print publications, such as Philly.com.”
Warren protested: “For those who believe nearly all journalists not on the Fox News payroll must be knee-jerk lefties pushing an agenda, be informed that the Guild heeded a nearly reflexive tradition and abstained in its parent's endorsement vote.”
In a statement, Guild president Bernie Lunzer said the News Guild always abstains from presidential endorsements to protect their reputation for “full objectivity.” But their official statement also stressed “Nobody gets a pass” in fighting for “social justice,” and lamented “hostile attacks” from capitalists that have “contributed catastrophically to the “fall of America’s middle class.” Yeah, that doesn’t sound like “full objectivity,” does it? The statement:
Since The Newspaper Guild joined the CWA in 1995, the Guild president, who is also a CWA vice president, has abstained from Executive Board votes on U.S. presidential endorsements.
We do so on behalf of our many members who cover politics and government. The NewsGuild-CWA takes seriously their need to function with full objectivity. We respect and protect that principle.
Abstaining from making an endorsement does not mean that we won’t be urging those members who can and should be involved to be active and support a candidate who shares our labor and social justice values. We will be asking them to help register people to vote, get out the vote and educate fellow members.
The message from the leadership of The NewsGuild-CWA is that everyone can play a role in the fight for social justice. Nobody gets a pass. We also stress that all journalists have the constitutional right to cast a vote, and we believe they should exercise that right.
Lastly, we remind everyone that the First Amendment protects freedom of association and freedom of speech. The right to unionize is an essential part of the freedom of association. It is critical that we all act to reverse the many years of hostile attacks that have weakened U.S. labor law and contributed, catastrophically, to the fall of America’s middle class.
Cynical journalist-type people could say the reporters wouldn't want to suggest they weren't friendly to the overwhelming front-runner of the Democratic Party. Nevertheless, Warren reported:
Lunzer (a onetime Minnesota journalist) reminded me last night, a predecessor of his decided to endorse George McGovern in his landslide 1972 loss to President Richard Nixon. "It was the first and last time in our history, and it was a mistake. It upset our journalists who felt their objectivity needed protection."
