Loss of Newspapers Contributes to Political Polarization

A new study found that the steady loss of local newspapers and journalists across the country contributes to the nation’s political polarization, the AP reports.

“With fewer opportunities to find out about local politicians, citizens are more likely to turn to national sources like cable news and apply their feelings about national politics to people running for the town council or state legislature.”

“The result is much less ‘split ticket’ voting, or people whose ballot includes votes for people of different parties. In 1992, 37 percent of states with Senate races elected a senator from a different party than the presidential candidate the state supported. In 2016, for the first time in a century, no state did that, the study found.”

Said professor Johanna Dunaway: “The voting behavior was more polarized, less likely to include split ticket voting, if a newspaper had died in the community.”