News Hole

Danny Hayes is Professor in the Department of Political Science, George Washington University. Jennifer L. Lawless is the Leone Reeves and George W. Spicer Professor in the Department of Politics, University of Virginia.

• 1. The Local Political Engagement Puzzle; 2. The Great Gutting of US Newspapers; 3. Where Local News Has Suffered Most; 4. As Local News Goes, So Goes Political Engagement; 5. Everyone Loses When Local News Declines; 6. Saving Local News; 7. Local News and American Democracy.

'Democracy depends on informed citizens – and for generations, America's rich landscape of local newspapers was an unparalleled source of information on state and local politics. So when media markets transform and local newspapers cut way back on their coverage of state and local issues, the threat to subnational democracy is acute. In an analysis that is at once sobering and compelling, Hayes and Lawless use a wealth of data to show precisely how deep the cuts to local political coverage have been – and how those cuts have in turn reduced Americans' engagement in local politics. This book is written with a style, voice, and urgency that means that you need to read not just your local newspaper but this book from cover to cover.' Daniel Hopkins, University of Pennsylvania