Readers’ Pleas to The Times: Don’t End the New York Endorsements

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Credit…Sasha Maslov for The New York Times

To the Editor:

Re “Times to Stop Endorsing Candidates in New York” (Business, Aug. 13):

As a New Yorker who for many years was a reporter for The New York Times, I am appalled that the Times editorial board is abandoning the civic responsibility of endorsing candidates in New York races, a responsibility that it had shouldered since 1897.

Now more than ever in an era of A.I.-enhanced misinformation, the city and the state need both the kind of in-depth local news reporting that informs citizens and the reasoned endorsements, based on fact, of The Times as an institution — regardless of whether readers agree with its editorial opinion.

Given the decline in local coverage generally, this decision by The Times may seem inevitable. But it feels like an affront — as if The Times considers itself too big and global to bother with an opinion about who should be the mayor or the governor of New York. Not a good look for a New York-based news organization.

Nina Bernstein
New York

To the Editor:

The New York Times editorial board’s decision to stop making endorsements in New York elections marks the end of a crucial tradition that educated voters and enhanced candidate quality and accountability.

The Times endorsements were a vital resource for New Yorkers, providing comprehensive, thoughtful assessments of candidates’ platforms so voters could make an informed choice at the ballot box.

The Times’s stamp of approval was often a true turning point in local elections, something almost no other newspaper endorsement in the country can still do. But for those running for office, the benefit wasn’t just in the endorsement itself — it was also in participating in the process preceding it.

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