Deregulation and Competition: Explaining the Absence of Local Broadcast News Operations

In: Journalism quarterly, Band 69, Heft 3, S. 713-723

Abstract

United States deregulation of radio and television in the 1980s is associated with the decision by some stations to end (or not start) presenting local news. This mail and telephone survey found that station programmers who dropped local news said they could not afford it but would present it if news generated sufficient revenue. There is evidence that news was dropped after, and perhaps as a result of deregulation, especially with television stations. The study suggests deregulation has not resulted in the news diversity for which some hoped.