Auditing local news presence on Google News.

Publisher: Springer Nature Publishing Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 101697750 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2397-3374 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 23973374 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Nat Hum Behav Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: [London] : Springer Nature Publishing, [2017]-

Internet* ; Mass Media* ; Social Media*; Algorithms ; Humans ; Models, Theoretical

Local news outlets have struggled to stay open in the more competitive market of digital media. Some have noted that this decline may be due to the ways in which digital platforms direct attention to some news outlets and not others. To test this theory, we collected 12.29 million responses to Google News searches within all US counties for a set of keywords. We compared the number of local outlets reported in the results against the number of national outlets. We find that, unless consumers are searching specifically for topics of local interest, national outlets dominate search results. Features correlated with local supply and demand, such as the number of local outlets and demographics associated with local news consumption, are not related to the likelihood of finding a local news outlet. Our findings imply that platforms may be diverting web traffic and desperately needed advertising dollars away from local news.

Comment in: Nat Hum Behav. 2022 Aug;6(8):1045-1047. (PMID: 35953595)
Comment in: Nat Hum Behav. 2022 Aug;6(8):1042-1044. (PMID: 35953596)

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Date Created: 20200922 Date Completed: 20210215 Latest Revision: 20220901

20221213

10.1038/s41562-020-00954-0

32958902