Two major newspapers, the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post, recently were forced by their owners not to publish already-drafted endorsements of Kamala Harris for president. If you were to put this news to some of my students, at least some would respond: Wait, there still are newspapers? They segregate news and opinion? They endorse?

News has changed so much in the past few decades, so the question is not the effect of newspaper endorsements. They never were that influential; most research suggested something less than a percentage point difference, mostly in bottom-of-the-ballot races or propositions. They can be more influential when a surprise endorsement (eg. conservative paper endorses liberal candidate) pops up in heavy rotation television and social media ads.

The notable worry is what these yanked endorsements tell us about the fading vitality and independence of news organizations.