Research
Articles
CHRISTOPHER A. COOPER,
Western Carolina University
ANTHONY J. NOWNES, University of Tennessee
MARTIN JOHNSON, University of California, Riverside
Interest Groups and Journalists in the States
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.
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