Local Journalism under Private Equity Ownership

Ewens, Michael; Gupta, Arpit; Howell, Sabrina T

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3939405

Download This Paper

Open PDF in Browser

Add Paper to My Library

Local Journalism under Private Equity Ownership

63 Pages Posted: 11 Oct 2021 Last revised: 4 Feb 2022

See all articles by Michael Ewens

Michael Ewens

Columbia Business School; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Sabrina T Howell

New York University (NYU) - Leonard N. Stern School of Business; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

There are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: February 1, 2022

Abstract

Local daily newspapers historically played an important role in U.S. democracy by providing citizens with information about local policy issues. In recent decades, local newspapers have struggled to compete with new online platforms. In the first study of private equity (PE) in a struggling industry, we find nuanced effects. PE leads to higher digital circulation and lower chances of newspaper exit. However, the composition of news shifts away from local governance, the number of reporters and editors falls, and participation in local elections declines. The results have implications for knowledge about local policy issues and highlight trade-offs surrounding media ownership.

Keywords: Private equity, newspapers, media, local journalism, civic engagement

JEL Classification: G23, G32, H42, L82

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Ewens, Michael and Gupta, Arpit and Howell, Sabrina T, Local Journalism under Private Equity Ownership (February 1, 2022). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3939405 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3939405