Overview

"Despite Tip O'Neill's maxim that ""all politics is local,"" and despite the press's emphasis on proximity as a news value, national and international developments are frequent topics of discussion in local newspaper editorials. In The View From the States, Jan. P. Vermeer demonstrates how public discourse on national politics at the local level influences how citizens and policy makers alike perceive and respond to national political institutions. Using 1994 as a case study, Vermeer examines ten medium-sized daily newspapers representing all regions of the country and analyzes their editorial commentaries on Congress, the Presidency, the Supreme Court, and the electoral process. He concludes that, while the papers show varied responses to national political events, the editorials regularly inject national concerns into local political discourse. The View From the States takes a fresh look at the ever increasing influence of regional media on national politics."

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9780847686520

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Reviews

Too often, we think of the news that matters most as nothing more than the front page of national newspapers or the stories on the network broadcasts. But though local news is what most citizens pay attention to most of the time, few have studied its content, let alone their editorial pages that provide a key opportunity in localities to mull over issues rather than headline the events of the day. Jan Vermeer provides a signal contribution by poring through a year's worth of editorials in ten medium-sized newspapers and telling us with wit and grace what their readers encountered the editors saying about the federal government. His book is important-and surprisingly optimistic-reading for any discussion about the condition of the public sphere in America. -- Tim Cook, Louisiana State University Vermeer's The View from the States is a fascinating look at national politics through the lens of local editorials. It reveals more about the political outlook of journalists than almost any study available. This important book is must reading for anyone interested in how the news media influence public discourse and opinion. -- Thomas E. Patterson, Harvard University Considering the shrill pitch of national news reporting, it is refreshing and encouraging to find a place where people can find reason and balance in political writing. The ramification for democratic discourse are particularly encouraging, and I recommend The View from the States to anyone looking for a novel way to appreciate mediated influences on national political matters. -- Matthew R. Kerbel * Perspectives on Politics * Vermeer should be commended for shining a flashlight up a dark alley of political communication research, and for that alone the book is worthwhile. Vermeer ably integrates [excerpts from the editorials themselves] into the text to illustrate his points, giving the reader a taste of how editorials interpret day-to-day political reality. A key strength of such a qualitative approach is uncovering the nuances and flavor of actual media content. This is reason enough to read the book. * Political Communication * This is a nice piece of broad introductory research into a relatively understudied and important part of our political system. * The Journal of Politics *

Considering the shrill pitch of national news reporting, it is refreshing and encouraging to find a place where people can find reason and balance in political writing. The ramification for democratic discourse are particularly encouraging, and I recommend The View from the States to anyone looking for a novel way to appreciate mediated influences on national political matters.--Kerbel, Matthew R. Perspectives On Politics

Author Information

"Jan P. Vermeer is professor of political science at Nebraska Wesleyan University. He is the author of For Immediate Release: Candidate News Releases in American Political Campaigns, and the editor of In ""Media"" Res: Readings in American Politics and the Mass Media (McGraw-Hill) and Campaigns in the News: Mass Media and Congressional Elections."

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