US newspaper portrayals of Islam vary less by local politics than expected

Evidence

Despite the United States’ political divisiveness, we also found a surprising lack of variation in newspaper coverage based on state political and religious climates. The nation may be deeply divided over a range of issues, including those related to Muslims, but our study shows that across the United States newspaper coverage of religion-related elements relating to Islam and Muslims is mostly homogenous. — Emily Greene-Colozzi, Amy Adamczyk, and Senahan Kiyal Keles, Differences in Religious Framing of…, 85

Categorization

• QUESTION: Homogeneity across state political and religious climates is counterintuitive — worth asking whether national wire copy and syndication, rather than local editorial choice, drive the uniformity.
• SEED: Angle: ‘The Wire Story That Ate the Local Paper’ — how national news infrastructure homogenizes coverage of religion even in politically opposite states.