IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/anname/v707y2023i1p189-207.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

News Nationalization in a Digital Age: An Examination of How Local Protests Are Covered and Curated Online

Author

Listed:
  • Kokil Jaidka
  • Sean Fischer
  • Yphtach Lelkes
  • Yifei Wang

Abstract

News outlets are increasingly nationalizing their presentation of news stories, framing and presenting local news in a broad national context. We investigate how supply-side and curation-side factors of the news cycle contribute to the nationalization of news coverage. Through the computational analysis of 1.05 million Google news results on four days in July–August 2020, that corresponded to 1,581 news stories published on the George Floyd protests in Portland, Oregon, and Kenosha, Wisconsin, we examine the relationship between the nationalization of news coverage, stories’ search rank in Google News, and the geographic distance between the news event and the stories’ reading audience. Further, we explore the role of Google News in curating locally focused news. Our findings help to map the media ecosystem in a digital age, highlighting the influence of algorithmic power in politics and showing that excessive circulation of national news may have a profound negative impact on news diversity and social justice.

Suggested Citation

  • Kokil Jaidka & Sean Fischer & Yphtach Lelkes & Yifei Wang, 2023. "News Nationalization in a Digital Age: An Examination of How Local Protests Are Covered and Curated Online," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 707(1), pages 189-207, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:707:y:2023:i:1:p:189-207
    DOI: 10.1177/00027162231217873
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00027162231217873
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/00027162231217873?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Moskowitz, Daniel J., 2021. "Local News, Information, and the Nationalization of U.S. Elections," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 115(1), pages 114-129, February.
    2. Sam Schulhofer-Wohl & Miguel Garrido, 2013. "Do Newspapers Matter? Short-Run and Long-Run Evidence From the Closure of The Cincinnati Post," Journal of Media Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(2), pages 60-81, June.
    3. Jensen, Amalie & Marble, William & Scheve, Kenneth & Slaughter, Matthew J., 2021. "City limits to partisan polarization in the American public," Political Science Research and Methods, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(2), pages 223-241, April.
    4. Sean Fischer & Kokil Jaidka & Yphtach Lelkes, 2022. "Reply to: Local news in Google News," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(8), pages 1045-1047, August.
    5. MARTIN, GREGORY J. & McCRAIN, JOSHUA, 2019. "Local News and National Politics," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 113(2), pages 372-384, May.
    6. Sean Fischer & Kokil Jaidka & Yphtach Lelkes, 2020. "Auditing local news presence on Google News," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 4(12), pages 1236-1244, December.
    7. Bucchianeri, Peter, 2020. "Party Competition and Coalitional Stability: Evidence from American Local Government," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 114(4), pages 1055-1070, November.
    8. Trussler, Marc, 2021. "Get Information or Get in Formation: The Effects of High-Information Environments on Legislative Elections," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 51(4), pages 1529-1549, October.
    9. Regina Branton & Gavin Dillingham & Johanna Dunaway & Beth Miller, 2007. "Anglo Voting on Nativist Ballot Initiatives: The Partisan Impact of Spatial Proximity to the U.S.‐Mexico Border," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 88(3), pages 882-897, September.
    10. Patricia D. Posey, 2023. "Information Inequality: How Race and Financial Access Reflect the Information Needs of Lower-Income Individuals," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 707(1), pages 125-141, May.
    11. Philip M. Napoli, 2023. "What Is Media Policy?," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 707(1), pages 29-45, May.
    12. Erik Peterson & Johanna Dunaway, 2023. "The New News Barons: Investment Ownership Reduces Newspaper Reporting Capacity," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 707(1), pages 74-89, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Stephanie Edgerly & Yu Xu, 2023. "Local-Level Information-Seeking in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Repertoire Approach," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 707(1), pages 172-188, May.
    2. Ava Francesca Battocchio & Kjerstin Thorson & Dan Hiaeshutter-Rice & Marisa Smith & Yingying Chen & Stephanie Edgerly & Kelley Cotter & Hyesun Choung & Chuqing Dong & Moldir Moldagaliyeva & Christophe, 2023. "Who Will Tell the Stories of Health Inequities? Platform Challenges (and Opportunities) in Local Civic Information Infrastructure," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 707(1), pages 144-171, May.
    3. Nikki Usher, 2023. "Delegitimizing Rural Public Health Departments: How Decaying Local News Ecologies, Misinformation, and Radicalization Undermine Community Storytelling Networks," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 707(1), pages 90-108, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ava Francesca Battocchio & Kjerstin Thorson & Dan Hiaeshutter-Rice & Marisa Smith & Yingying Chen & Stephanie Edgerly & Kelley Cotter & Hyesun Choung & Chuqing Dong & Moldir Moldagaliyeva & Christophe, 2023. "Who Will Tell the Stories of Health Inequities? Platform Challenges (and Opportunities) in Local Civic Information Infrastructure," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 707(1), pages 144-171, May.
    2. Charles Angelucci & Julia Cage & Michael Sinkinson, 2020. "Media Competition and News Diets," Sciences Po publications 2020-03, Sciences Po.
    3. Erik Peterson & Johanna Dunaway, 2023. "The New News Barons: Investment Ownership Reduces Newspaper Reporting Capacity," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 707(1), pages 74-89, May.
    4. Jacob M. Grumbach & Jamila Michener, 2022. "American Federalism, Political Inequality, and Democratic Erosion," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 699(1), pages 143-155, January.
    5. Lourdes M. Cueva Chacón & Jessica Retis, 2023. "¿Qué pasa with American News Media? How Digital-Native Latinx News Serves Community Information Needs Using Messaging Apps," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 707(1), pages 237-255, May.
    6. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/4ec86lkes59hv9tfv77ld1p5fr is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Milena Djourelova & Ruben Durante & Gregory J. Martin, 2021. "The Impact of Online Competition on Local Newspapers: Evidence from the Introduction of Craigslist," CESifo Working Paper Series 9090, CESifo.
    8. Premal P Vora, 2020. "Clogged information flow and stock-market sluggishness," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-13, July.
    9. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/7jk88md0ar9hga662p2vjjq4kc is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Giacomo Buoncompagni, 2023. "Notizie di comunit? nell?instabilit?. Dove sta andando il giornalismo locale?," PRISMA Economia - Societ? - Lavoro, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2023(1-2), pages 160-176.
    11. Andrea Tesei & Filipe Campante & Ruben Durante, 2022. "Media and Social Capital," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 14(1), pages 69-91, August.
    12. Julia Cagé, 2014. "Media Competition, Information Provision and Political Participation," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03602440, HAL.
    13. Stefano Castriota & Marco Delmastro & Mirco Tonin, 2023. "National or local infodemic? The demand for news in Italy during COVID-19," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 507-536, December.
    14. Gravelle, Timothy B. & Lachapelle, Erick, 2015. "Politics, proximity and the pipeline: Mapping public attitudes toward Keystone XL," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 99-108.
    15. Little, Andrew T., 2022. "Bayesian Explanations for Persuasion," OSF Preprints ygw8e, Center for Open Science.
    16. Gao, Pengjie & Lee, Chang & Murphy, Dermot, 2020. "Financing dies in darkness? The impact of newspaper closures on public finance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(2), pages 445-467.
    17. Bühler Mathias & Andrew Dickens, 2024. "From Couch to Poll: Media Content and The Value of Local Information," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 496, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    18. Julia Cagé, 2014. "Media Competition, Information Provision and Political Participation," SciencePo Working papers hal-03602440, HAL.
    19. Francesco Drago & Tommaso Nannicini & Francesco Sobbrio, 2014. "Meet the Press: How Voters and Politicians Respond to Newspaper Entry and Exit," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(3), pages 159-188, July.
    20. Sewell Chan, 2023. "A Lost Decade: Policymakers Fiddled as Newsrooms Burned," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 707(1), pages 62-72, May.
    21. Benjamin R. Knoll, 2013. "Implicit Nativist Attitudes, Social Desirability, and Immigration Policy Preferences," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1), pages 132-165, March.
    22. Cagé, Julia, 2020. "Media competition, information provision and political participation: Evidence from French local newspapers and elections, 1944–2014," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:707:y:2023:i:1:p:189-207. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.