Media Consolidation, Nationalizing News, and Legislator Accountability

• In Event: Next Steps in Studying Nationalization

Abstract

Concerns about the decline of local news coverage and the nationalizing news environment relate to its implications for theories of democratic accountability. When local media (and citizens) are not watching, legislators are free to deviate from constituent preferences. This study offers a comprehensive theory of news coverage and legislator accountability. We empirically test this theory by analyzing declining local coverage via a relatively unexplored phenomenon: the acquisition of local television stations by large media conglomerates. Using data from the FCC, the 2018 CCES, and the roll-call votes of the 116th U.S. Congress, we find that the degree of broadcast station consolidation within a congressional district is not significantly associated with the degree of incongruence between a representative’s roll-call vote and her constituents’ preferences. This potentially undermines the concerns of declining democratic accountability with the decrease in local news coverage.

Authors

• Bradley H. Madsen, Texas A&M University

• Johanna Dunaway, Syracuse University