According to a recent Princeton University study by Sam Schulhofer-Wohl and Miguel Garrido, interest in local government and turnout in local elections ebbed in the bi-state Cincinnati media market after The Cincinnati Post shut down in 1987. Luscombe's take on it is nuanced, but troubling:
The study is very small in scope, since the Post only had a total of 27,000 subscribers in Cincinnati and northern Kentucky. And it only measures the outcomes in northern Kentucky, since Ohio has not had municipal elections since the Post's closure. But even with those limitations, a few trends seemed to emerge: in towns the Post regularly covered, voter turnout dropped, fewer people ran for office and more incumbents were reelected. That is, when there were fewer stories about a given town, its inhabitants seemed to care less about how they're being governed.So ... is the glass half full or half empty?
In the only possible hint of a bright spot, it seemed that smaller towns were much less affected by newspaper closures than larger ones. Voter turnout in the smaller communities did not change.
My take on it: There's still a market for intensely local news. Some of the pundits call it "hyperlocal" coverage, and people still want to read about the school lunch menu, street closures and parish bake sales. But there's going to be a void as more traditional ink-on-paper news outlets close. Next question: Who's going to be smart enough, innovative enough and resourceful enough to fill that void?
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One of my favorite parts of this chapter is on page 139. The article, "THe reporter's guide to TROUBLE," talks about ways to get into trouble. It is important for a reporter to stay clear of trespassing, libel, invasion of privacy, plagiarism, bias, and bad taste. All of these things are very easy to do. It is also important for a reporter to have a well-understanding of the definitions of each of these.
The whole chapter summarizes what is acceptable and what is unacceptable to publish anywhere.
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