Hyperlocal News Coverage: A Population Ecology Perspective

Abstract

Adopting a population ecology perspective, this study tests the influence of population-level factors on news coverage in hyperlocal websites. Specifically, level of legitimacy of the hyperlocal website population is assessed as a predictor of frequency and favorability of coverage of local businesses and government organizations. Traditional “field-level” predictors from media sociology are also examined. Among the field-level factors tested, professional background of staff and affiliation with traditional media organizations proved most important in explaining favorability of coverage, and level of advertising was an important predictor of frequency of coverage. The level of the population’s legitimacy also corresponded significantly with frequency of coverage. Results suggest that factors related to the population level and to institutionalization over time are relevant, even for the hyperlocal website, a relatively young and idiosyncratic media form. These factors warrant attention in future research.

Notes

¹ According to Riffe, Lacy, and Fico (2014), a population size of 5,000 would require 139 content units be sampled for an acceptable intercoder reliability test, assuming 85% agreement and a 95% level of probability.

² Trade publications analyzed included Quill, Editor & Publisher, American Editor, Columbia Journalism Review, American Journalism Review, St. Louis Journalism Review, Grassroots Editor, and Nieman Reports. The New York Times and national trade publications are analyzed because, although community-level publications are studied here, it is assumed in population ecology research that for a population to exist, it must have legitimacy at a level of analysis higher than a particular community. Also, as Deephouse and Suchman (2008) noted, “prestige media such as the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal … have figured prominently in legitimacy studies” because “they are produced by and for societal elites [and] aspirants to elite status,” they “often set the agenda,” they are “routinely targeted by those seeking to build or repair legitimacy,” and they “act as a stabilizing force in society,” helping to distinguish “between legitimate and illegitimate actors” (p. 56).

³ According to Aldrich and Fiol (1994), “the highest form of cognitive legitimation is achieved when a new product, process, or service is taken for granted” (p. 648). According to Deephouse and Suchman (2008), taken-for-grantedness is “absence of questioning” and an “increasingly popular measurement strategy involves counting … the number of media articles, with greater numbers indicating greater legitimacy” (p. 53). The approach “may be more appropriate for emerging industries, organizations or practices.” With “regard to media articles, the taken-for-grantedness of a well-established activity may be reflected in the … absence of press coverage” (p. 54). Deephouse and Suchman noted that complete absence of mention is a problematic measure. However, absence of editors’ explanation of the phenomenon of hyperlocal websites is a close conceptual fit and demonstrates that editors take for granted that their readers will be familiar with the form—thus it will have cognitive legitimacy. This approach has also been used previously in studies of media populations’ cognitive legitimacy (Lowrey, 2012, 2015).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Wilson Lowrey

Wilson Lowrey (Ph.D., University of Georgia, 2000) is a professor in the Department of Journalism & Creative Media at the University of Alabama. His research focuses on the sociology of media production.

Eunyoung Kim

Eunyoung Kim (M.A., Texas State University, 2013) is a doctoral student in the College of Communication and Information Sciences at the University of Alabama. Her research interests include public relations and sports communication.