Buying the news
A quantitative study of the effects of corporate acquisition on local news
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12655844 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Benjamin LeBrun (0000-0001-9383-5602, McGill University, corresponding author), Kaitlyn Todd (McGill University), Andrew Piper (0000-0002-0973-4209, McGill University) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 2189-2212 |
| Publication date | 2022-03-24 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | New Media & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1461-4448 • E-ISSN: 1461-7315 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/14614448221079030 |
| OpenAlex | W4220659692 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 14 |
Local newspapers are increasingly subject to predatory corporate acquisition—corporate takeovers in which media conglomerates purchase publications in financially precarious states, drastically cut staff, and in certain cases consolidate newsroom operations. We investigate how this practice alters the information environment of 31 corporate-owned local newspapers across over 130,000 articles. Formalizing local information across three dimensions, we find (a) that corporate acquisition is associated with a reduction in the volume of local content produced, (b) that the coverage of local places following acquisition is significantly more concentrated than prior to acquisition, and (c) that articles produced to be shared across regional hubs of corporate-owned publications are significantly less local—and discursively more national—than articles produced for a single local market. Our findings identify reductions in newsroom resources and regional hubs of publications as detrimental to the information environment of local communities
Advertising · Business · Content analysis · Corporate communication · Corporate social responsibility · Newspaper · Political science · Public relations · Social science · Sociology · Media Influence and Politics · Media Studies and Communication · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Marketing
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| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2025 (2) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |