News, Public Affairs, and the Public Sphere in a Digital Nation : Rise of the Audience

Missing from the ongoing conversation about the titanic forces reshaping national journalism is the meaning of daily professional journalism in communities where the majority of Americans live. Edgar Simpson spent a year intimately engaged with all the news streams available in two Midwest counties—one where a daily newspaper had closed and one where a daily newspaper continues to operate—to better understand and illuminate national news trends and translate them to specific communities. News, Public Affairs, and the Public Sphere in a Digital Nation: Rise of the Audience outlines the clear implications for representative democracy in the face of a daily professional journalism in retreat. If the U.S. system is to thrive, more resources at the community level must be marshaled to support journalism. Further, citizens will have to become increasingly sophisticated in understanding the type of content they are consuming and, more importantly, what information they are not consuming. This book not only puts the problems in stark terms but offers unique, community-based solutions. " Reporting makes a significant difference not just in the amount of public affairs information available to a community, but also in the amount and type of conversations about self-governance that take place in the digital world. Simpson argues that without daily professional journalism, the audience is forced to craft their own news feeds, often resulting in conversations without foundation. "