The Effects of Media Ownership on Editorial Endorsements for President: A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis
Restricted (Penn State Only)
Author:
Riddle, Lilly
Area of Honors:
Political Science
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Krishna Prasad Jayakar, Thesis Supervisor Douglas Lemke, Thesis Honors Advisor Patrick Robert Parsons, Thesis Supervisor
Keywords:
media newspapers endorsements bias slant presidential endorsements hedge funds private equity firm investment company ownership editors
Abstract:
This thesis investigates the role news outlet ownership—particularly by hedge funds, private equity firms, and investment companies—plays in determining editorial practices through a quantitative analysis of 100 regional newspapers’ ownership and presidential editorial endorsement patterns from 2004 to 2020, as well as a qualitative assessment of 12 interviews with editorial board members, columnists, editors, and reporters. My quantitative analysis determined that while hedge fund ownership does not play a significant role in a newspaper’s propensity to endorse a Republican candidate for president over a Democratic one, there is a correlation between hedge fund ownership and endorsement likelihood, with these outlets more commonly endorsing no candidates than endorsing a Democrat, Republican, third party candidate, or someone else. The findings of my qualitative analysis and the topics discussed by interviewees—shrinking newsrooms, the uneven impact of hedge fund acquisitions, and trust in local papers, to name a few—are elaborated in the Qualitative Analysis section.
