Los Angeles (AFP) - A conservative Arizona newspaper is facing death threats and losing subscriptions after it broke with tradition by endorsing Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump for US president, a senior editor told AFP.

The Phoenix-based Arizona Republic, the state's largest newspaper, announced in an editorial on Tuesday that it is backing a Democrat for the first time since it was founded in 1890 on the grounds that Trump is neither conservative nor qualified to be president.

The paper's editorial board said that while Clinton did not lack flaws, she was also the "superior choice" by far.

The backlash began shortly after it published the endorsement, with outraged readers sending a deluge of angry emails and canceling subscriptions, said Phil Boas, who runs the paper's editorial page.

"We got a lot of angry callers and we've had quite a few cancellations," he said, adding that the editors had expected blowback and did not regret its decision.

The paper also received some threatening phone calls and a death threat, he said without elaborating.

USA Today set another precedent on Thursday, when its editorial board took a side in a presidential race for the first time in its 34-year history, although without issuing a straight endorsement.

Publishing scathing criticism of Trump, the national paper urged readers to oppose a candidate it said is "dangerous" and "unfit for the presidency." It went on to call him "erratic," "ill-equipped," "reckless," someone with a "checkered" business past, and a "serial liar."

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