Civic Life in Rural America Revisited: The Role of Social and Mobile News on Civic Participation

Rural America has been suffering from insufficient civic resources and is often characterized as a "civic desert." Drawing upon the Communication Infrastructure Theory, this study surveys residents in Oregon (N = 564) and explores the ways in which social and mobile news use, along with other traditional storytelling networks, relate to rural and non-rural residents' civic participation. Results showed that the types of communities moderated the effects of social and mobile news usage on online civic participation. This study expands upon scholarly concerns about the possible side effects of emerging media storytelling networks on civic life in local community contexts.