Decreased Political Awareness

Do newspapers  matter?  According to a new study by economists at Princeton University, the level of political awareness in Cincinnati's Northern Kentucky suburbs declined significantly after the closing of the Cincinnati Post on Dec. 31, 2007, with consequent effects on public life.
   The next year fewer candidates ran for municipal office, yielding incumbents an advantage, and voter turnout fell.  The Cincinnati/Kentucky Post was historically dominant in Northern Kentucky and provided more than 80 percent of local news coverage when combined with Cincinnati's other (surviving) daily, the Cincinnati Enquirer.
   The March 2009 study by economists Sam Schulhofer-Wohl and Miguel Garrido may be found at http://wws-roxen.princeton.edu/wwseconpapers/papers/dp236.pdf
   See also Alan D. Mutter's blog "Reflections of a Newsosaur," at http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2009/03/newspapers-do-matter-princeton-study.html