Community newspapers, community structural pluralism, and local conflict with nonlocal groups

Journalism and Mass Communication Quaterly

Volumn 73, Issue 3, 1996, Pages 708-721

  Hindman, Douglas Blanks ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0000630194     PISSN: 10776990     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/107769909607300315     Document Type: Article

References (44)

1. Roland L. Warren, The Community in America (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1972), 53-54.
2. Harvey Molotch and J. Logan, "The City as a Growth Machine: Toward a Political Economy of Place," American Journal of Sociology 82 (September 1976): 309-32.
3. George A. Donohue, Phillip J. Tichenor, and Clarice N. Olien, "Mass Media Functions, Knowledge and Social Control," Journalism Quarterly 50 (winter 1973): 652-59; George A. Donohue, Clarice N. Olien, and Phillip J. Tichenor, "Leader and Editor Views of Role of Press in Community Development," Journalism Quarterly 62 (summer 1985): 367-72.
4. George A. Donohue, Phillip J. Tichenor, and Clarice N. Olien, "Mass Media Functions, Knowledge and Social Control," Journalism Quarterly 50 (winter 1973): 652-59; George A. Donohue, Clarice N. Olien, and Phillip J. Tichenor, "Leader and Editor Views of Role of Press in Community Development," Journalism Quarterly 62 (summer 1985): 367-72.
5. Harvey Molotch and John Logan, "Tensions in the Growth Machine: Overcoming Resistance to Value-Free Development," Social Problems 31 (June 1984): 483-99; David A. McGranahan, "Local Growth and the Outside Contact of Influentials: An Alternative Test of the "Growth Machine" Hypothesis," Rural Sociology 49 (winter 1984): 530-40.
6. Harvey Molotch and John Logan, "Tensions in the Growth Machine: Overcoming Resistance to Value-Free Development," Social Problems 31 (June 1984): 483-99; David A. McGranahan, "Local Growth and the Outside Contact of Influentials: An Alternative Test of the "Growth Machine" Hypothesis," Rural Sociology 49 (winter 1984): 530-40.
7. Clarice N. Olien, George A. Donohue, and Phillip J. Tichenor, "Community Editor's Power and the Reporting of Conflict," Journalism Quarterly 45 (summer 1968): 243-52.
8. Donohue, Tichenor, and Olien, "Mass Media Functions, Knowledge and Social Control," 652-59.
9. Donohue, Tichenor, and Olien, "Mass Media Functions, Knowledge and Social Control," 653.
10. Lewis Coser, The Functions of Social Conflict (Glencoe, IL: Free Press, 1956), 87-88.
11. Warren, The Community In America, 53-74; George A. Donohue, "Major Trends in Rural America," Sociology of Rural Life 8 (summer/fall 1986): 1-2,7.
12. Warren, The Community In America, 53-74; George A. Donohue, "Major Trends in Rural America," Sociology of Rural Life 8 (summer/fall 1986): 1-2,7.
13. George A. Donohue, Clarice N. Olien, and Phillip J. Tichenor, "Reporting Conflict by Pluralism, Newspaper Type and Ownership," Journalism Quarterly 62 (autumn 1985): 489-99, 507; George A. Donohue, Clarice N. Olien, Phillip J. Tichenor, and David Pearce Demers, "Community Structure, News Judgments and Newspaper Content" (paper presented at annual meeting of AEJMC, Minneapolis, MN, 1990).
14. George A. Donohue, Clarice N. Olien, and Phillip J. Tichenor, "Reporting Conflict by Pluralism, Newspaper Type and Ownership," Journalism Quarterly 62 (autumn 1985): 489-99, 507; George A. Donohue, Clarice N. Olien, Phillip J. Tichenor, and David Pearce Demers, "Community Structure, News Judgments and Newspaper Content" (paper presented at annual meeting of AEJMC, Minneapolis, MN, 1990).
15. "Parochialism is Endemic to Twin Cities," Fargo (ND) The Forum, 26 March 1995, sec. E, p. 2; "Rural Folks Relying More on City Money," Minneapolis Star Tribune, 22 November, 1992, sec. A, pp. 1, 20-21.
16. "Parochialism is Endemic to Twin Cities," Fargo (ND) The Forum, 26 March 1995, sec. E, p. 2; "Rural Folks Relying More on City Money," Minneapolis Star Tribune, 22 November, 1992, sec. A, pp. 1, 20-21.
17. Donohue, Olien, and Tichenor, "Reporting Conflict by Pluralism, Newspaper Type and Ownership," 489-99, 507; see also Phillip J. Tichenor, Clarice N. Olien, George A. Donohue, and William F. Griswold Jr., "Social Change and Gatekeeper Change: Opinions of Community Editors, 1965-1985" (paper presented to the annual meeting of the American Association, of Public Opinion Research, 1986); Douglas M. McLeod, Kent L. Sandstrom, Clarice N. Olien, George A. Donohue, and Phillip J. Tichenor, "The Impact of Community Structure and Systemic Change on Editorial Judgements" (paper presented to the annual meeting of AEJMC, Minneapolis, MN, 1990; Donohue, Olien, Tichenor, and Demers, "Community Structure, News Judgments and Newspaper Content."
18. Donohue, Olien, and Tichenor, "Reporting Conflict by Pluralism, Newspaper Type and Ownership," 489-99, 507; see also Phillip J. Tichenor, Clarice N. Olien, George A. Donohue, and William F. Griswold Jr., "Social Change and Gatekeeper Change: Opinions of Community Editors, 1965-1985" (paper presented to the annual meeting of the American Association, of Public Opinion Research, 1986); Douglas M. McLeod, Kent L. Sandstrom, Clarice N. Olien, George A. Donohue, and Phillip J. Tichenor, "The Impact of Community Structure and Systemic Change on Editorial Judgements" (paper presented to the annual meeting of AEJMC, Minneapolis, MN, 1990; Donohue, Olien, Tichenor, and Demers, "Community Structure, News Judgments and Newspaper Content."
19. Donohue, Olien, and Tichenor, "Reporting Conflict by Pluralism, Newspaper Type and Ownership," 489-99, 507; see also Phillip J. Tichenor, Clarice N. Olien, George A. Donohue, and William F. Griswold Jr., "Social Change and Gatekeeper Change: Opinions of Community Editors, 1965-1985" (paper presented to the annual meeting of the American Association, of Public Opinion Research, 1986); Douglas M. McLeod, Kent L. Sandstrom, Clarice N. Olien, George A. Donohue, and Phillip J. Tichenor, "The Impact of Community Structure and Systemic Change on Editorial Judgements" (paper presented to the annual meeting of AEJMC, Minneapolis, MN, 1990; Donohue, Olien, Tichenor, and Demers, "Community Structure, News Judgments and Newspaper Content."
20. Donohue, Olien, and Tichenor, "Reporting Conflict by Pluralism, Newspaper Type and Ownership," 489-99, 507; see also Phillip J. Tichenor, Clarice N. Olien, George A. Donohue, and William F. Griswold Jr., "Social Change and Gatekeeper Change: Opinions of Community Editors, 1965-1985" (paper presented to the annual meeting of the American Association, of Public Opinion Research, 1986); Douglas M. McLeod, Kent L. Sandstrom, Clarice N. Olien, George A. Donohue, and Phillip J. Tichenor, "The Impact of Community Structure and Systemic Change on Editorial Judgements" (paper presented to the annual meeting of AEJMC, Minneapolis, MN, 1990; Donohue, Olien, Tichenor, and Demers, "Community Structure, News Judgments and Newspaper Content."
21. David Pearce Demers, Structural Pluralism, Intermedia Competition, and the Growth of the Corporate Newspaper in the United States, Journalism Monographs, no. 145 (Columbia, SC: AEJMC, 1994), 13-15.
22. Lewis Coser, The Function of Social Conflict (Glencoe, IL: Free Press, 1956), 103-104.
23. "Rural Folks Relying More on City Money," (Minneapolis) Star Tribune, 22 November 1992, sec. A, p. 20.
24. Minnesota State Planning Agency, Regional Diversity: Re-examining the Urban-Rural Dichotomy, Patterns of Minnesota Growth (St. Paul, MN: Minnesota State Planning Agency, Policy Perspectives Series, 1988); U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Understanding Rural America, Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 710 (Washington, DC: GPO, 1995), 6-9.
25. Minnesota State Planning Agency, Regional Diversity: Re-examining the Urban-Rural Dichotomy, Patterns of Minnesota Growth (St. Paul, MN: Minnesota State Planning Agency, Policy Perspectives Series, 1988); U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Understanding Rural America, Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 710 (Washington, DC: GPO, 1995), 6-9.
26. Frederick H. Buttel and Gilbert W. Gillespie Jr., "Rural Policy in Perspective: The Rise, Fall, and Uncertain Future of the American Welfare-State," in The Future of Rural America: Anticipating Policies for Constructive Change, ed. Kenneth E. Pigg (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1991), 22-27.
27. C.N. Olien, P.J. Tichenor, G.A. Donohue, K.L. Sandstrom, and D.M. McLeod, "Community Structure and Editor Opinions About Planning," Journalism Quarterly 67 (spring 1990): 119-27.
28. Donohue, Olien, and Tichenor, "Leader and Editor Views of Role of Press in Community Development," Journalism Quarterly 62 (summer 1985): 367-72.
29. Originally, the sample was used as part of an ongoing study of the role of newspapers in communities with different levels of structural pluralism. The Center for Rural Sociology and Community Analysis, University of Minnesota, has published numerous articles resulting from this series of studies, and reports regularly in Sociology of Rural Life (St. Paul, MN: Center for Rural Sociology and Community Analysis, University of Minnesota).
30. Phillip J. Tichenor, George A. Donohue, and Clarice N. Olien, Community Conflict and the Press (Beverly Hills: Sage, 1980), 16.
31. John D. Kasarda and Morris Janowitz, "Community Attachment in Mass Society," American Sociological Review 39 (June 1974): 328; Louis Wirth, "Urbanism as a Way of Life," The American Journal of Sociology 44 (July 1938): 8.
32. John D. Kasarda and Morris Janowitz, "Community Attachment in Mass Society," American Sociological Review 39 (June 1974): 328; Louis Wirth, "Urbanism as a Way of Life," The American Journal of Sociology 44 (July 1938): 8.
33. Raymond Aron, Maincurrents in Sociological Thought Volume II: Durkheim, Pareto, Weber, trans. Richard Howard, and Helen Weaver (NY: Anchor Books, 1965), 23-24.
34. Michael A. DuBick, "The Organizational Structure of Newspapers in Relation to Their Metropolitan Environment," Administrative Science Quarterly 23 (September 1978): 418-33.
35. The raw scores for 1960 and 1990 measures of county population, city population, percent of work force not agricultural, fisheries, or forestry occupations were standardized and added. Per-capita income measures were standardized within each year to control for inflation before adding. Chronbachs' alpha for the pluralism index was .81.
36. Olien, Donohue, and Tichenor, "Community Editor's Power and the Reporting of Conflict," 246. In the original study, newspaper conflict was defined as "the amount of space devoted to stories in which there was an expression of difference or opposition between specific individuals or groups". The earlier definition required that coders identify the portion of articles containing conflict, measured in column inches, and then code each conflict story into one of three categories: local government, other agencies, and non-governmental.
37. Differences between 1991 and 1965 mean levels of city population, county population, percent of work force in nonagricultural/fisheries/forestry occupations were statistically significant (p < .05) via matched pair t-test. As a partial control for the effects of inflation, per capita income measures were standardized within each year before testing. Differences between the standardized values of per capita income were not statistically significant.
38. All measures were converted to a 2″ column standard.
39. News hole was defined as the sum of local, regional, state, national, and international news, editorials, opinions, letters to the editor, editorial cartoons, legal notices, public notices, stock listings, sports scores, and entertainment news. Excluded from news hole estimates were advice columns, mastheads, advertisements, classified ads, comics, horoscopes, puzzles, tv and radio listings, subscription boxes, and white space not enclosed by stories or photographic layouts. The quotient of conflict inches divided by news hole inches was multiplied by 1000.
40. Olien, Donohue, and Tichenor, "Community Editor's Power and the Reporting of Conflict," 243-52.
41. 1991 and 1965 differences between means were tested using independent sample t-tests. An additional analysis was performed in which a continuous measure of structural pluralism was treated as a covariate and year of publication was treated as a main effect. The F-ratio for the main effect was statistically significant for all measures of internal conflict. Similarly, when year of publication was treated as a covariate and community pluralism was treated as the main effect, the F-ratios were significant for all measures of internal conflict.
42. Donohue, Olien, and Tichenor, "Reporting Conflict by Pluralism, Newspaper Type, and Ownership," 489-99, 507.
43. Among communities with lower levels of structural pluralism: 1965 vs. 1991 (47.8% vs. 32.2%), chi-square = 5.51, p < .05; among communities with higher levels of structural pluralism: 1965 vs. 1991 (46.5% vs. 22.6%) chisquare = 30.20, p < .001.
44. Coser, The Functions of Social Conflict, 103-104.