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Local News Deserts and Community Social Capital Erosion

Tess Haddock et al.

Journal of Regional Science2026https://doi.org/10.1111/jors.70053article
AJG 3ABDC A
Weight
0.50

Abstract

The disappearance of local newspapers across the United States has sparked growing concern about its implications for community life in rural America. This study examines the societal consequences of local news deserts, focusing on three critical dimensions of community social capital: crime, civic engagement, and political polarization. Using a difference‐in‐differences framework and a novel panel dataset of U.S. counties from 1990 to 2016, we find that the loss of local newspapers is associated with significant increases in property and victimless crimes, declines in voter turnout, and heightened political polarization. These findings suggest that local newspapers play a vital role in fostering informal social controls, informing the electorate, and bridging ideological divides.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/jors.70053

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@article{tess2026,
  title        = {{Local News Deserts and Community Social Capital Erosion}},
  author       = {Tess Haddock et al.},
  journal      = {Journal of Regional Science},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/jors.70053},
}

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Local News Deserts and Community Social Capital Erosion

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.