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Diagnosing News Deserts: A Path Towards Scalable Assessment An Exploration of Critical Information Needs Performance in Local News Ecosystems in Missouri /

Record Type:	Electronic resources : Monograph/item
Title/Author:	Diagnosing News Deserts: A Path Towards Scalable Assessment An Exploration of Critical Information Needs Performance in Local News Ecosystems in Missouri /Aaron Babel.
Author:	Babel, Aaron,
Description:	1 electronic resource (123 pages)
Notes:	Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 86-06.
Notes:	Advisors: Rose, Kathleen Committee members: Kiesow, Damon; Jenkins, Joy.
Contained By:	Masters Abstracts International86-06.
Subject:	Journalism.
Online resource:	http://pqdd.sinica.edu.tw/twdaoapp/servlet/advanced?query=31484898
ISBN:	9798346761976

Diagnosing News Deserts: A Path Towards Scalable Assessment An Exploration of Critical Information Needs Performance in Local News Ecosystems in Missouri /
Babel, Aaron,

Diagnosing News Deserts: A Path Towards Scalable Assessment An Exploration of Critical Information Needs Performance in Local News Ecosystems in Missouri /Aaron Babel. - 1 electronic resource (123 pages)

Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 86-06.

For over a decade, there has been a crisis of local journalism growing within the United States. Beginning as technological changes undermined the business model of the local newspaper, this market failure was felt across all news mediums. With the current state of local news in crisis and parties interested in preventing this crisis, there is a need to assess the availability of local news and identify communities at risk of becoming news deserts in a way that is reflective of the evolving local news ecosystem. Within the scholarship, the term "news deserts" emerged to describe geographical areas lacking in adequate information from local news outlets. The concept is often measured by the presence of local newspapers, but this operationalization may be an inaccurate reflection of how local news is produced by outlets or consumed by audiences. Instead, expanding the definition, and measurement, acknowledges that news deserts do not appear randomly but are the byproduct of multiple social processes resulting in a lack of quality of local news available to the community.The research presented in this thesis is based on two frameworks used in prior efforts to examine the state of local news on a community level. These frameworks are Critical Information Needs (CINs) and a local news ecosystem approach. Extending these two theories, I pilot a scalable approach to analyzing the health of local news. In this thesis, I present two studies to understand the health of local news ecosystems in Missouri. The first diagnostic study examines how CINs are produced in Missouri both collectively and on a community-to-community basis. This study reconceptualizes a traditionally dichotomized measure of CIN (needs met or needs not met) into a four-tiered measure of CIN performance. With this operationalization of CIN performance, we can classify counties at different levels of risk of becoming news deserts using terminology reflective of and extending the environmental metaphor of local news ecosystems and the (news) desert analogy. The second study uses exploratory analysis as a test case for this newly established measure of CIN risk from the diagnostic study and to identify relevant associated sociological measures. This study utilizes statistical methods (ANOVA and correlations) to compare the presence of CINs information to other attributes of the community to identify what types of communities are at risk of not having their CINs met. In this research, I present a new scalable approach to examine local new ecosystems while also providing insights into the landscape of local news within Missouri. These studies provide a template for examining the health of local news which allows for potential news deserts to be identified and supported before reaching the point of extinction or desert status. The studies and methods presented throughout this research are not limited to Missouri, but can also be applied to other regions, nationally or internationally.

English

ISBN: 9798346761976Subjects--Topical Terms:

181127
Journalism.
Subjects--Index Terms:

Critical Information Needs

Diagnosing News Deserts: A Path Towards Scalable Assessment An Exploration of Critical Information Needs Performance in Local News Ecosystems in Missouri /
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520 $a For over a decade, there has been a crisis of local journalism growing within the United States. Beginning as technological changes undermined the business model of the local newspaper, this market failure was felt across all news mediums. With the current state of local news in crisis and parties interested in preventing this crisis, there is a need to assess the availability of local news and identify communities at risk of becoming news deserts in a way that is reflective of the evolving local news ecosystem. Within the scholarship, the term "news deserts" emerged to describe geographical areas lacking in adequate information from local news outlets. The concept is often measured by the presence of local newspapers, but this operationalization may be an inaccurate reflection of how local news is produced by outlets or consumed by audiences. Instead, expanding the definition, and measurement, acknowledges that news deserts do not appear randomly but are the byproduct of multiple social processes resulting in a lack of quality of local news available to the community.The research presented in this thesis is based on two frameworks used in prior efforts to examine the state of local news on a community level. These frameworks are Critical Information Needs (CINs) and a local news ecosystem approach. Extending these two theories, I pilot a scalable approach to analyzing the health of local news. In this thesis, I present two studies to understand the health of local news ecosystems in Missouri. The first diagnostic study examines how CINs are produced in Missouri both collectively and on a community-to-community basis. This study reconceptualizes a traditionally dichotomized measure of CIN (needs met or needs not met) into a four-tiered measure of CIN performance. With this operationalization of CIN performance, we can classify counties at different levels of risk of becoming news deserts using terminology reflective of and extending the environmental metaphor of local news ecosystems and the (news) desert analogy. The second study uses exploratory analysis as a test case for this newly established measure of CIN risk from the diagnostic study and to identify relevant associated sociological measures. This study utilizes statistical methods (ANOVA and correlations) to compare the presence of CINs information to other attributes of the community to identify what types of communities are at risk of not having their CINs met. In this research, I present a new scalable approach to examine local new ecosystems while also providing insights into the landscape of local news within Missouri. These studies provide a template for examining the health of local news which allows for potential news deserts to be identified and supported before reaching the point of extinction or desert status. The studies and methods presented throughout this research are not limited to Missouri, but can also be applied to other regions, nationally or internationally.
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