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A conservative newspaper for a conservative county inside the red state of Oklahoma went against the grain and endorsed Hillary Clinton this past election cycle – and they’ve been paying dearly for it ever since.
Aside from losing subscribers since the controversial endorsement, the Enid News & Eagle has watched advertisers walk away on a grand scale, the mayor of the city drop out of a paper-sponsored event, and emails, letters and phone calls denouncing the publication’s poor decision.
Via The Blaze:
Ever since the October endorsement, the paper has been losing advertisers and subscribers.
The endorsement in the fall marked the first time the small Oklahoma newspaper, which was founded in 1893, had endorsed a Democrat. And many of the small, 52,000-member town in which the publication is circulated have yet to forgive the editors.
In fact, according to the New York Times, circulation is down since the controversial endorsement:
The News & Eagle, with a circulation of 10,000, lost 162 subscribers who canceled the paper. Eleven advertisers pulled their ads, including a funeral home that had a sizable account. Someone stuck a “Crooked Hillary” bumper sticker on the glass doors of the paper’s downtown office. A man left a late-night message on the publisher’s voice mail, expressing his hope that readers would deliver, to put it delicately, a burning sack of steaming excrement to the paper.
And the fallout has been with more than just the residents. The town’s former mayor pulled out of an event that was slated to honor community leaders because the occasion was being sponsored by the News & Eagle. The Times reported that the paper has received numerous calls, emails and letters complaining about the endorsement, too.
In one instance, tensions nearly boiled over for one reporter who was confronted by a man in a steakhouse over the endorsement, threatening to beat him up.
While nothing came of the incident, the reporter said the anger in this incident and other complaints shows “almost a sense of betrayal” from readers.
According to the following report, 57 newspapers endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, 4 endorsed Gary Johnson, and only 2 chose Donald Trump.
Guess it goes to show you how much influence traditional media has these days.
Comment: Are readers of the Oklahoma newspaper overreacting, or should they drop their local paper over a Hillary Clinton endorsement? Share your thoughts below.
