Home Style Opinion

How Local Newspapers Can Slow Polarization

Joshua P Darr author Matthew P Hitt author Johanna L Dunaway author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:29th Apr '21

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Home Style Opinion cover

This Element analyzes how local newspapers can hold back the rising tide of political division by focusing on local issues.

Local newspapers can hold back the rising tide of political division in America by turning away from the partisan battles in Washington and focusing their opinion page on local issues. While it may not cure all of the imbalances and inequities in opinion journalism, it could help local newspapers push back against political polarization.Local newspapers can hold back the rising tide of political division in America by turning away from the partisan battles in Washington and focusing their opinion page on local issues. When a local newspaper in California dropped national politics from its opinion page, the resulting space filled with local writers and issues. We use a pre-registered analysis plan to show that after this quasi-experiment, politically engaged people did not feel as far apart from members of the opposing party, compared to those in a similar community whose newspaper did not change. While it may not cure all of the imbalances and inequities in opinion journalism, an opinion page that ignores national politics could help local newspapers push back against political polarization.

ISBN: 9781108948098

Dimensions: 150mm x 230mm x 5mm

Weight: 150g

75 pages