My longtime pal Paul Harris and I agree on most things but I don't think we do on this issue of newspapers declining to endorse presidential candidates due to their wealthy owners fearing retaliation from Donald Trump. Here's what Paul had to say and he's right that no newspaper endorsement is going to swing undecided voters.
But first of all, it's a bad precedent for newspapers to do anything out of fear of retaliation from the government.
Secondly, undecided voters aren't going to be completely swayed by anything as toothless as a newspaper editorial but some might be moved by the feeling of consensus out there. Hearing that almost all the major newspapers have endorsed Harris might be meaningful to some people. It might be a factor in causing someone to think she can't possibly be as dangerous for America as Trump and his sycophants are screaming.
No, the Washington Post editorial page didn't bring down Richard Nixon. But the editorial page kinda speaks for the management of the newspaper and the unwavering support the newspaper puts behind its reporters has had a lot to do with the effectiveness of their reporting. The regime then of Ben Bradlee and Katharine Graham said to Nixon, in effect, "You can't push us around." The current regime is saying, in effect, "Well, you can on some matters."