Abstract
American politics at local levels has lost its synchronization among three important elements. First is the boundaries of electoral units, like congressional districts; second is the margins of media markets in which political news circulates; and third is the sources of funding for election campaigns. Threats to citizens' competence in public affairs result from lack of harmony among these three structures. Our study of press coverage of House elections illustrates how fragile the system of local political journalism has become. We propose that tax incentives be developed inviting television news, distributed in nonbroadcast form, to enter the arena of local political information. We seek to increase public involvement by drawing the culture's most popular medium into reporting about competitive politics, within jurisdictions where citizens cast their ballots.
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