Decline of newspapers harming civic engagement, study finds

Political involvement among citizens is adversely affected by the decline of newspapers, according to a new study by Wilson School researchers on how voting patterns are influenced by news coverage. In their study "Do Newspapers Matter? Evidence from the Closure of The Cincinnati Post," economics and public affairs professor Samuel Schulhofer-Wohl and economics concentrator Miguel Garrido '10 examined the decrease in civic participation in suburban counties after The Cincinnati Post published its last edition on Dec. 31, 2007. In the study, conducted in the year following the end of the paper's publication, Schulhofer-Wohl and Garrido found that fewer citizens ran for political office at the municipal level and fewer voters participated in elections. The two said that, based on their results, newspapers "can have a substantial and measurable impact on public life." The study compared voter turnout; the number of candidates for city council, city commission and school board; and incumbency advantage in 48 municipalities before and after the closing of The Cincinnati Post. The research focused on northern Kentucky suburbs, where the Post dominated circulation and provided the most local news.