Loss of newspapers contributes to political polarization

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The steady loss of local newspapers and journalists across the country contributes to the nation’s political polarization, a new study has found. According to research published in the Journal of Communication, 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.


Loss of newspapers contributes to political polarization