Public Affairs News and Local Relevance in Digital Journalism: Comparing Nonprofit Versus Commercial Digital News Outlets Across Levels of Community Pluralism

Abstract

Drawing from both critical political economy and community structure perspectives, this study compares local news quality in stories from nonprofit and commercial news sites in both high- and low- pluralism communities in the United States. Findings indicate that nonprofit business models offer benefits for news quality in local communities. Findings also show that these benefits from nonprofits are heightened in highly pluralistic communities (larger cities), though digital outlets overall showed signs of higher quality in less pluralistic cities. This research contributes to our understanding of the interplay between media business models, communities’ institutional structures, and local news content, particularly for digital news.

Keywords

local news nonprofit news digital news startups structural pluralism critical information needs

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