Local news is losing out to online, nationalized, and more polarized outlets. How do the economics of news production and the contributors who write it affect the political content that Americans see? Nikki Usher finds that local newspapers are losing staff, but declines are not concentrated in Red small towns. Nick Hagar finds that contributors to online media are an insular group, with conservative outlets disconnected from the rest. Both the producers of news and their dominant consumers are unrepresentative–that’s changing the content and style of news.

Guests: Nikki Usher, University of Illinois; Nick Hagar, Northwestern University 

Studies: News for the Rich, White, and Blue and “Writer Movements Between News Outlets Reflect Political Polarization in Media”

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Science of Politics Podcast

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