The View from the States: National Politics in Local Newspaper Editorials

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.