The Social World of the Statehouse Pressroom

Abstract

An observational study found Wisconsin statehouse political reporters organized in a social network with four hierarchical levels. Reporters shared routine story information across network levels to promote reporting accuracy and consistency. Reporter relationships with sources were often friendly unless editors reimposed “watchdog” ways of behaving toward sources. Rather than duplicating wire service reports to avoid “missing the story of the day,” reporters instead depended on the wires to supplement their own enterprise reporting.