| The growing concentration in ownership of media businesses by fewer corporations is well documented. Critics debate how concentration affects the press in its role in the public sphere of a democratic society. Additionally, as one of the most local sources of news, weekly newspapers hold a unique and important place in citizens' news consumption in the democratic public sphere. This thesis looks at how media concentration affects the local weekly newspaper as a local news source and as a part of the local public sphere. It attempts to determine if the negative effects predicted by critics of media concentration are evident to readers of a local, weekly newspaper or if any of the possible positive outcomes of group ownership are evident. The study includes a content analysis of select issues and in-depth interviews with readers of a weekly newspaper, the Oxford Press, distributed in Oxford, Ohio. |
