News in My Backyard: Media and Democracy in an "All American" City

Considerable research indicates that, at both the national and community levels, commercial news media generally fail to provide citizens with the specific information they require to hold government and public organizations accountable. This study extends research on media and democracy at the local level through a detailed content analysis of the community issue coverage of a local newspaper that serves an unusually well educated, financially secure, and politically active population. Data suggest that media do not serve democracy even in a context in which the limitations imposed by a politically disengaged audience are not present.