scholarly journals Local Journalism under Private Equity Ownership

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Ewens ◽  
Arpit Gupta ◽  
Sabrina Howell
Keyword(s):  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Private Equity ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Local Newspapers ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Media ◽  
Equity Ownership

Local daily newspapers have historically played an important role in U.S. democracy by providing citizens with information about local policy issues. However, in recent decades local newspapers have struggled to compete with new online platforms for readers’ attention. Private equity investors—who specialize in reorganizing struggling firms in distressed sectors—have entered the industry. How do these new owners affect newspaper content, survival, and local civic engagement? We document nuanced effects, contrasting with the polarized debate on this topic in the media and political discourse. On one hand, we find that private equity ownership leads to higher digital circulation and lower chances of newspaper exit. On the other hand, we document a change in news composition away from information about local governance, and lower employment of reporters and editors. Finally, we find declines in participation in local elections, consistent with local newspaper content being relevant for civic engagement. The results have implications for knowledge about local policy issues and highlight trade-offs surrounding media ownership.

News Hole

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danny Hayes ◽  
Jennifer L. Lawless
Keyword(s):  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Presidential Elections ◽  
Local Politics ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Democratic Accountability ◽  
Local Newspapers ◽  
Education Levels ◽  
News Industry

In recent decades, turnout in US presidential elections has soared, education levels have hit historic highs, and the internet has made information more accessible than ever. Yet over that same period, Americans have grown less engaged with local politics and elections. Drawing on detailed analysis of fifteen years of reporting in over 200 local newspapers, along with election returns, surveys, and interviews with journalists, this study shows that the demise of local journalism has played a key role in the decline of civic engagement. As struggling newspapers have slashed staff, they have dramatically cut their coverage of mayors, city halls, school boards, county commissions, and virtually every aspect of local government. In turn, fewer Americans now know who their local elected officials are, and turnout in local elections has plummeted. To reverse this trend and preserve democratic accountability in our communities, the local news industry must be reinvigorated – and soon.

scholarly journals Assessing the impact of private equity on industrial relations in Europe

2010 ◽  
Vol 63 (9) ◽  
pp. 1343-1370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Bacon ◽  
Mike Wright ◽  
Louise Scholes ◽  
Miguel Meuleman
Keyword(s):  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Private Equity ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Equity Investment ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Equity Ownership ◽  
The Impact ◽  
National Systems ◽  
Future Plans

Private equity firms are accused by trade unions of changing industrial relations in buyouts by demonstrating an unwillingness to recognize and work with trade unions, and by downgrading information and consultation. To explore these important policy issues, this article reports the first representative pan-European survey of managers’ perceptions of the impact of private equity on industrial relations. Managers report that private equity investment does not result in changes to union recognition, membership density or changes in management attitudes to trade union membership. Furthermore, managers in firms recognizing unions after private equity buyouts do not report reductions in the terms and conditions subject to joint regulation. Under private equity ownership more firms report consultative committees, managers regard these as more influential on their decisions, and indicate increased consultation over firm performance and future plans. Comparing industrial relations changes in different social models in Europe, the results suggest private equity firms adapt to national systems and traditional national industrial relations differences persist after buyout.

Local Elections and the Politics of Small-Scale Democracy

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Eric Oliver ◽  
Shang E. Ha ◽  
Zachary Callen
Keyword(s):  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Electoral Politics ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Personal Connections ◽  
Community Ties

Local government is the hidden leviathan of American politics: it accounts for nearly a tenth of gross domestic product, it collects nearly as much in taxes as the federal government, and its decisions have an enormous impact on Americans' daily lives. Yet political scientists have few explanations for how people vote in local elections, particularly in the smaller cities, towns, and suburbs where most Americans live. Drawing on a wide variety of data sources and case studies, this book offers the first comprehensive analysis of electoral politics in America's municipalities. Arguing that current explanations of voting behavior are ill suited for most local contests, the book puts forward a new theory that highlights the crucial differences between local, state, and national democracies. Being small in size, limited in power, and largely unbiased in distributing their resources, local governments are “managerial democracies” with a distinct style of electoral politics. Instead of hinging on the partisanship, ideology, and group appeals that define national and state elections, local elections are based on the custodial performance of civic-oriented leaders and on their personal connections to voters with similarly deep community ties. Explaining not only the dynamics of local elections, Oliver's findings also upend many long-held assumptions about community power and local governance, including the importance of voter turnout and the possibilities for grassroots political change.

scholarly journals The birth of public space privatization: How entrepreneurialism, convivial urbanism and stakeholder interactions made the Martim Moniz square, in Lisbon, ‘privatization-ready’

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Gomes
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Private Governance ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Management Scheme ◽  
Political Objective ◽  
Stakeholder Interactions ◽  
Private Management ◽  
The Relationship

Despite the vigorous debate on the extent, modalities and impacts of public space privatization, there have been few analyses of the processes of its emergence in specific places. Based on 36 stakeholder interviews and desk research, this paper does so through an analysis of how the Martim Moniz square, in Lisbon, became the city’s first square under private management in 2012. To do so, the paper goes through the local governance context and the importance of convivial public spaces as a political objective, leading to regular partnerships with non-state actors. The square is adjacent to Mouraria, a derelict neighbourhood that was a testing ground for the city’s new urban policies. The square’s private management scheme – branded the Mercado de Fusão – rather than a rupture with existing practices, is the result of a coincidence of interests of both actors. Moreover, it reassembles typical local policy responses and the company’s expertise in a unitary management scheme. The seamless implementation of the Mercado is made possible by the pre-existing relationship between the company and the municipality. The paper thus shows that there is no fundamental shift towards private governance in Lisbon. Rather, it is the generalized commodification of public spaces resulting from the emergence of conviviality as a political objective that opened up the conditions for the square’s privatization. The relationship between conviviality as a political objective and privatization is presented as a promising subject for further research.

Issue Emergence, Evolution of Controversy, and Implications for Competitive Framing

2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika Franklin Fowler ◽  
Sarah E. Gollust ◽  
Amanda F. Dempsey ◽  
Paula M. Lantz ◽  
Peter A. Ubel
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Dynamic Process ◽  
Hpv Vaccine ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Local Newspapers ◽  
The Media ◽  
External Events ◽  
Insight Into

Although scholarship on competitive framing acknowledges that framing is a dynamic process in which the early stages may matter most, very little research has focused on the dynamics of issue emergence. In this article, we draw on several literatures to develop theories for how controversy related to new issues will emerge and expand in news coverage. Through a comprehensive content analysis of 101 local newspapers across the fifty U.S. states, we explore the dynamic and evolving process wherein a new issue—the HPV vaccine—emerged into public discourse and a legislative debate over school requirements for vaccination began. We find that coverage of controversy is a function of proximity, driven primarily by events within a state, although external events also influence local coverage. We also find that the legislative discussion in the media did not necessarily start out as controversial, but as the issue evolved, we observe a large increase in the proliferation of both actors taking positions and the types of arguments made to influence debate. The findings yield important insight into issue emergence with implications for how future research might test competing frames to better understand how the presentation of controversy in the mass media affects public opinion.

scholarly journals The Accumulation Effect

2005 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raivo Palmaru
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Political Preferences ◽  
Public Opinion Surveys ◽  
Accumulation Effect ◽  
General Elections ◽  
The Media ◽  
Election Results ◽  
Prevailing View

Abstract Although numerous studies over the past 20 years have revealed a clear connection between content analysis statistics and the results of public opinion surveys, the media’s “minimal effects” hypothesis still remains the overwhelmingly prevailing view. Among other things, it is not clear which of the two influences the other: Do people’s political preferences influence the media or do the media influence people’s preferences? In order to test this, the results of the 1999 and 2003 general elections and the 2002 local elections in Estonia, as well as the results of current public opinion surveys, were compared to the coverage given to the campaigning parties in the largest Estonian newspapers. The analysis showed that the coverage of political parties in the print media, as determined by the frequency of valuative notations, described the election results to a great extent. It is noteworthy that a change in media content was followed by a change in public opinion. At the same time, an accumulation effect became obvious: The voters’ preferences for political parties accumulated diachronically during the course of several weeks based on the information that was available to them.

scholarly journals Local Governance Collaboration Model For Preserving Marine Ecosystem In The Coastal Area of Nusa Lembongan Island, Klungkung Regency, Bali

2019 ◽  
pp. 210
Author(s):  
Ida Ayu Putu Sri Widnyani ◽  
I Made Kusna Antara ◽  
Nyoman Diah Utari Dewi
Keyword(s):  
Local Governance ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Mangrove Forests ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Tourist Attractions ◽  
Collaboration Model ◽  
Qualitative Descriptive ◽  
Traditional Institutions

The marine ecosystem on the coast of Nusa Lembongan is one of the tourist attractions such as coral reefs, mangrove forests and others. The high number of tourist visiting the island also impacts tourism facilities. Increased tourism also has the opportunity to damage the marine ecosystem. Therefore needs a collaboration among stakeholders in maintaining the sustainability of the marine ecosystem                . The purpose of this research is to find out and analyze also to find a collaborative model of stakeholders such as government, private sector, community and traditional institutions in preserving the marine ecosystem in Nusa Lembongan. The research is using a qualitative descriptive approach with determining informants technic is purposive sampling. Local government collaboration model in conserving marine ecosystems by strengthening the role of stakeholders at the local level such as: 1) signing memorandum of understanding for creating regional regulations as a policy of the Klungkung Regency; 2) writing in to a local wisdom (awig-awig) as a local policy of the local wisdom institutions (adat); 3) writing into the policy of the tour operator; 4) implement the Tri Hita Karana concept and creating a memorandum of understanding for all parties.

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