Neighborhood Newspapers and Neighborhood Leaders

Abstract

Assuming that neighborhood newspapers and neighborhood leaders are among the most important influences on neighborhood residents' issue agendas and definitions of issues, a study examined some of these influences by interviewing a random sample of 239 residents of a low income, urban neighborhood in Minneapolis. In addition, a purposive sample of 52 leaders of raighborhood organizations who had an interest in one or more of four issues was interviewed. Residents and leaders were asked to identify the neighborhood's most important problems or issues. Among the issues of greatest concern were crime, housing, physical appearance of the neighborhood, economic development, and chemical dependency of many residents. The order of emphasis by neighborhood residents varied, however, by education. The agenda of the leaders as a group correlated most highly with the agenda of the most educated. When definitions of the issues were examined in detail, the relative emphases by the neighborhood press bore comparatively much less relationship to the emphases by neighborhood residents. It was concluded that organization leaders were more influential in defining issues than the neighborhood press, and that leaders exerted the most influence when public attention to issues and knowledge about them were low. References and data tables are appended. (HOD)