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Interest Groups and Journalists in the States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Christopher A. Cooper ,
Anthony J. Nownes  and
Martin Johnson
Christopher A. Cooper
Affiliation:
Western Carolina University
Anthony J. Nownes
Affiliation:
University of Tennessee
Martin Johnson
Affiliation:
University of California, Riverside
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Abstract

Interest groups have many tactics to choose from in pursuing their policy goals. While inside tactics have received considerable scholarly attention, outside tactics have been adopted increasingly by groups of all kinds. We explore one such lobbying tactic by examining the relationship between interest groups and journalists in the American states. Through a survey of statehouse reporters, we find that lobbyists are useful sources of information for these reporters, who even rank them above many more traditional sources of information. Our data also show that contact between interest groups and journalists varies systematically across the states. Specifically, interest groups in states with large or small numbers of interest groups have more contact with journalists than interest groups in states with an average number of groups. Furthermore, journalists in states where interest groups are relatively powerful claim to interact with those groups less than journalists in states where interest groups are less powerful.

Type
Research Article
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , Spring 2007 , pp. 39 - 53
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

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