Poynter has kept track of which newspapers endorsed whom in 2008, and which way their endorsements fall this year. In the swing states, Romney has picked up 24 newspaper endorsements to Obama’s 15. But in what may be one sign of which way the wind is currently blowing, Romney has crushed Obama among the newspapers that switched their endorsement from 2008 to 2012.
According to Poynter, at least 33 newspapers switched their endorsements. Among those, just three switched from McCain to Obama. They are:
But 30 have switched from Obama to Romney this year:
- Billings Gazette
- Cape Cod Times
- Casper Star-Tribune
- The Columbian
- The Daily Herald
- Daily News (L.A.)
- Daily Tribune
- The Dallas Morning News
- Des Moines Register
- The Florida Times-Union (which split between McCain & Obama in ’08)
- Florida Today
- Fort Worth Star-Telegram
- Houston Chronicle
- The Journal & Courier
- The Joplin Globe
- Naples Daily News
- New York Daily News
- New York Observer (weekly)
- Newsday
- Orlando Sentinel
- Pasadena Star-News
- Pensacola News Journal
- Press-Telegram (Long Beach)
- Quad-City Times
- Reno Gazette-Journal
- Shreveport Times
- South Florida Sun Sentinel
- The (Nashua) Telegraph
- The Tennessean
- Wisconsin State Journal






Does anyone have any real idea of how influential these endorsements are on peoples voting behaviour?
Or is it just another sign of a shifting of public opinion, a straw in the wind?
Excellent thought – I have wondered about the “Newspaper Endorsement” game for years. I guess if Florida goes for Romney with a decisive win we will have a pretty good clue. At this point, personally, I hope these Newspapers have a huge affect!
– is just a free handout. Trying to compete with a blue paper in a blue city in a blue state.