METRO DAILY PULLBACK AND KNOWLEDGE GAPS

Abstract

In a study of metro daily pullback, analyses of metro and regional daily newspaper penetration were conducted in 87 Minnesota counties. Readership data for metro and regional daily newspapers and small-town weekly and semiweekly papers were studied in 28 communities. Metro daily newspaper penetration has declined sharply in nonmetropolitan areas, with the sharpest drops occurring in agricultural counties. Although change in circulation of regional daily newspapers is negatively related to change in metro circulation, the “compensation” is only partial, because regional gains do not completely offset metro losses, either in circulation or in the amount of content provided. In outlying communities, education is more strongly associated with reading the metro paper than with reading the local paper, a finding that underscores the differential opportunity for access among higher status groups in the community. Among regional communities with daily papers, the relationship between education and reading the metro paper is greater where the pullback has been greater. This difference does not occur in the more rural communities with weeklies. Also, in rural communities, the low opportunity structure for media appears to have consequences similar to universal availability in the metro communities. In both metro and small communities, a change in penetration has little effect on what status groups will have access to the metro newspaper.