News organizations define local by circulation area, not geography or politics.

Evidence

Local news had a very specific definition of ”local”: our circulation area. The Amargo paper, which was supposed to cover events in Amargo and Swift River, did not touch Evergreen City, which was a short swim from both. The Evergreen County Times sometimes covered events in Amargo and Swift River, since the paper was sold in those towns (coverage came after the market expansion). So, the news’ definition of local helped create the public’s definition. And the news’ definition of local was based not on political or social boundaries, or ecological or geographical ones, but market boundaries. — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 1606

Categorization

• corroborated: 4 independent passages support this claim — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 1606