Should political journalists vote?

I am sure many of my colleagues would say it was none of my business if - not mind how - they voted. But the question of whether hacks should cast a ballot in the primaries, state races or the US Presidential election is eating up political journalists in the US.

The well respected Mike Allen, a former Washington Post and Time journalist now working for Politico, a website dedicated to US political news says: "I'm part of a minority school of thought among journalists that we owe it to the people we cover, and to our readers, to remain agnostic about elections, even in private. I figure that if the news media serve as an (imperfect) umpire, neither team wants us taking a few swings...

"When you’re assigned to a candidate for senator or governor, oftentimes you ride in their van. When they’re tired, you’re tired. When you’re hungry, they’re hungry. When they’re sick, you’re sick. I just wouldn’t feel right about hanging out with — and writing about — a candidate after rendering a secret thumbs-up or thumbs-down."

Perhaps the best example of this is Len Downie, editor of the Washington Post, who doesn't vote as part of his determination to see both sides of every argument. But US journalistic culture is sharply different to Britain and it is hard to see this becoming widespread (though I am aware of a couple of individuals in the lobby who abstain). For the record, I haven't voted since joining The Times in 2000, and can't see a circumstance in which I do while covering politics for the paper. But what do readers expect - should we be following Allen's example?

Comments

[Gavin Whenman]

Perhaps as a matter of transparency, if journalists do vote, they declare who for. Oftentimes the carrier of the message is just as important as the message itself, and readers should know from which particular viewpoint a political story is being parsed.

[Chuck Unsworth]

Mike Allen starts from a position of implied impartiality - presumably that applies to his work, then. Given that political comment - and journalism generally - will always be a matter of perception and opinion, that is not a tenable position.

The very best political journalism that I have read has always been biased - to the left or to the right. I do not agree that readers should be 'informed' as to 'viewpoints'. Would this also apply to authors, playwrights, broadcasters or film-makers, for example? Let us also be clear that journalism is just as 'creative' as many of these other professions.

If it is not clear what the writer's position may be then readers must make their own judgements. And that, after all, is what most independent minded do. And we should not get carried away with the notion that journalists and newspapers shape public opinion. Clearly, and particularly now, they do not. The Internet has come into its own as a means of communication and dialogue.

[Matt]

It may well make it more comfortable when speaking to the individual politicians to be able to say that you haven't voted for or against their party, but what about in between elections? The act of not marking an 'x' on a ballot once every few years does not remove a journalist's personal bias from their writing.

It's not the clanking big biases that journalists need to think about - like who they might vote for, but actually the more subtle factors - how many daily mail journalists have lived on benefits for example? Or Telegraph journalists who have been trade union activists? Or Guardian journalists who have run a small business? Obviously, individuals aren't 100% objective - we're all products of our backgrounds to some extent. I think that's a bigger issue that a once-in-four years vote.

One small side issue: well done to Mike Allen (and to Sam Coates) for raising the issue openly and involving people outside the journalist world in the debate.

[Felixstowe Fiddler]

As a political journalist in the lobby, I see absolutely no reason whatsoever either to abstain at elections or to indicate for which party I do vote.
Journalists should be professional enough to overcome their political beliefs and to write objectively.
Over the years - and indeed at some elections - I have found myself liking certain politicies of differing parties. For instance, I believe Tory defence policy is more sound than Labour's, but I support Labour's policy on the introduction of ID cards.