Authors
Abstract
_The Cincinnati Post_ published its last edition on New Year's Eve 2007, leaving the _Cincinnati Enquirer_ as the only daily newspaper in the market. The next year, fewer candidates ran for municipal office in the Kentucky suburbs most reliant on the _Post_, incumbents became more likely to win re-election, and voter turnout and campaign spending fell. These changes happened even though the _Enquirer_ at least temporarily increased its coverage of the _Post_'s former strongholds. Voter turnout remained depressed through 2010, nearly three years after the _Post_ closed, but the other effects diminished with time. We exploit a difference-in-differences strategy and the fact that the _Post_'s closing date was fixed 30 years in advance to rule out some noncausal explanations for our results. Although our findings are statistically imprecise, they suggest that newspapers - even underdogs such as the _Post_, which had a circulation of just 27,000 when it closed - can have a substantial and measurable impact on public life.
