Community Newspapers, Community Structural Pluralism, and Local Conflict with Nonlocal Groups

Abstract

This important study of how newspapers address conflict contributes to an understanding of how the content of local newspapers is related to community conditions. In periods of change, newspaper content reflects the concerns of powerful groups within and beyond the community. Ultimately, newspaper reports of both internal conflict and conflict w'th outside groups contribute to the maintenance of community stability and community adjustment to change in the larger social environment.

Impact of Newspaper Characteristics on Reporters' Agricultural Crisis Stories: Productivity, Story Length, and Source Selection

“…Coverage by the Oregonian, located in cosmopolite, urban Portland, also supported previous findings that newspapers in larger, more pluralistic communities tend to give greater coverage to controversial science topics, with mitigation by involvement of a community with the controversy (Branton & Dunaway, 2009;Eshbaugh-Soha & Peake, 2008;Griffin & Dunwoody, 1995, 1997Hindman, 1996;Taylor, Lee & Davie, 2000). Portland, for example, had no such involvement in the BSE outbreak.…”

“…Since the December 2003 BSE outbreak occurred in Washington state, this finding supports the ideas that the closer to an event in physical and social distance and in place characteristics a newspaper is, the more coverage it is likely to devote to the event in terms of number of stories, story length, and source choice (Bendix & Liebler, 1999;Caburnay et al, 2003;Crawley, 2007;Marks, Kalaitzandonakes, Wilkins, & Zakhorova, 2007). Thus, newspapers in the far Midwest and on the West Coast might logically be expected to provide greater coverage of a crisis occurring in Washington state (Branton & Dunaway, 2009;Eshbaugh-Soha & Peake, 2008;Griffin & Dunwoody, 1995, 1997Hindman, 1996;Taylor, Lee & Davie, 2000). And, given the possible seriousness of the event for public health and for the nation's economy, national newspapers might also have been expected to pay particular attention to the event (Bendix & Liebler;Branton & Dunaway;Cannon & Irani, 2011;Eshbaugh-Soha & Peake;Harry, 2000;Haygood, Hagins, Akers & Keith, 2002;King, Cartmell, & Sitton, 2006;Ruth, Eubanks, & Telg, 2005).…”

“…The decreasing numbers of papers located in rural settings and the tendency of urban papers to give little coverage to agricultural news imply that agriculturally relevant events that do not occur near a major urban paper may not receive the coverage they deserve (Caburnay, 2003;Cahill, Morley, & Powell, 2010;Cartmell, Dyer & Birkenholz, 2001;Griffin & Dunwoody, 1995, 1997Hindman, 1996;Reisner & Walter, 1994;Thompson & Kelvin, 1996) Additionally, unless agriculturallyrelevant news is perceived as important to owners of urban papers, fewer agricultural reporters may be needed to join their staffs. These trends may be mitigated somewhat through efforts by larger urban papers to expand coverage into suburban/rural areas through establishment of special editions aimed at such areas; expansion of all coverage by means of online editions of even local newspapers; and inclusion of coverage of agricultural issues in other beats, such as small business, technology, or food/health reporting (Cahill, Morley, & Powell, 2010;De Jonge, Van Trijip, Renes, & Frewer, 2010;Edmonds, Guskin, & Rosenstiel, 2011;Noam, 2008;Reisner, 2003;Saunders, 2002).…”

Journal of Applied Communications vol. 96(3) Full Issue

“…For example, small circulation newspapers may be more likely to use news releases from the PR News Wire, an organization featuring news subsidies from providers who pay for their service (Morton & Ramsey, 1994); other research also has highlighted reliance by reporters for larger, regional and national newspapers on news subsidies (Lehman-Wilzig & Seletzky, 2012;Liu, Vedlitz, & Alston, 2008). In contrast, newspapers in larger, more pluralistic communities give greater coverage to controversial science topics such as environmental contamination or political "hot topics" like immigration, although involvement of an area with controversial subject matter in some way -for example, local economic dependence on the covered industry -may affect coverage (Branton & Dunaway, 2009;Eshbaugh-Soha & Peake, 2008;Griffin & Dunwoody, 1995,1997Hindman, 1996). Daily newspapers in small but demographically and economically heterogeneous communities may be expected to favor local government and industry when reporting environmental conflict Hindman;Taylor, Lee, and Davie, 2000).…”

“…In contrast, newspapers in larger, more pluralistic communities give greater coverage to controversial science topics such as environmental contamination or political "hot topics" like immigration, although involvement of an area with controversial subject matter in some way -for example, local economic dependence on the covered industry -may affect coverage (Branton & Dunaway, 2009;Eshbaugh-Soha & Peake, 2008;Griffin & Dunwoody, 1995,1997Hindman, 1996). Daily newspapers in small but demographically and economically heterogeneous communities may be expected to favor local government and industry when reporting environmental conflict Hindman;Taylor, Lee, and Davie, 2000).…”