Local Journalism under Private Equity Ownership / Michael Ewens, Arpit Gupta, Sabrina T. Howell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ewens, Michael.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Gupta, Arpit.

Howell, Sabrina T.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w29743.

NBER working paper series no. w29743

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2022.

Summary:

Local daily newspapers historically played an important role in U.S. democracy by providing citizens with information about local policy issues. In recent decades, local newspapers have struggled to compete with new online platforms. In the first study of private equity (PE) in a struggling industry, we find nuanced effects. PE leads to higher digital circulation and lower chances of newspaper exit. However, the composition of news shifts away from local governance, the number of reporters and editors falls, and participation in local elections declines. The results have implications for knowledge about local policy issues and highlight trade-offs surrounding media ownership.

Notes:

Print version record

February 2022.