Forgotten Voters: Media Coverage in Split Congressional Districts

Abstract

"An unintended consequence of redisricting at the congressional level is that those who live in split congressional districts may be provided less media coverage of those who are running for Congress in their district. A content analysis of the major newspapers for several counties that are split into several different congressional districts finds that those who live in districts that make up a small percentage of a county receive systematically less newspaper coverage of their candidates for Congress than do those who live in the part(s) of a county that have larger percentages of it inside a different congressional district. The analysis also finds that newspaper coverage of both candidates is almost wholly a function of coverage of the candidate that ends up losing the election. Several implications are drawn from the analysis, including an argument that the information asymmetries thrust upon those living in split congressional districts can negatively impact issues of voter turnout and self-governance."