As Seen on TV: Local Television News and the Shaping of Rural Political Preferences

Abstract

How do information environments shape political preferences among rural Americans? This study examines how variation in local television news exposure shapes rural Americans’ political preferences about government spending on law enforcement. These governmental spending preferences are often shaped by skepticism grounded in rural place-based identity. Drawing on agenda-setting theory, I argue that exposure to different media markets—particularly those from more populous urban areas where coverage of crime and law enforcement is more prevalent—creates distinct informational contexts that influence political preferences. Using survey data from rural respondents in the 2016, 2020, and 2022 Cooperative Election Studies and a matching design, the analysis finds that rural Americans exposed to local television news from urban media markets express greater support for increasing law enforcement spending, even at the expense of other public services. These findings challenge the idea that rural Americans hold rigid, identity-based political preferences rooted in place. Instead, this study demonstrates that rural political preferences are malleable and shaped by information environments.