Dear Reader,
With four days to go before American voters choose their 44th president, the opinion pages of Mint this morning are formally endorsing one of the two mainstream candidates, joining dozens of newspapers and magazines, most of them published in the US, that have chosen to do so.
On the face of it, some of you might think it is unusual —and maybe gimmicky— for a newspaper whose readers live 11,977km away from the White House to issue an endorsement.
We are weighing in because we believe that what happens in this election has a critical bearing on India and the rest of the world— for good or bad—in light of the ongoing financial turmoil that started in America.
We are also acutely aware that about 40% of those who regularly read Mint online at www.livemint.com do so from the US. And, while most of our print newspaper’s readers may not have a voice in this election, they are equally well served in hearing an informed opinion on this matter.
We underscore that this endorsement is this newspaper’s considered editorial opinion. At Mint, we have always maintained a strong separation of our News and our Views pages, which gives us the confidence that our editorial view on this election won’t colour our news coverage of the US presidency, no matter who wins. That much of our coverage of the world’s largest economy is selected from multiple providers, especially our exclusive content partner, The Wall Street Journal, adds to our comfort in ensuring that Mint’s news coverage will live up to our daily promise of being a “clear-minded chronicler”.
As always, we look forward to your feedback and welcome your comments at views@livemint.com.
Raju Narisetti
Editor