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Carry on Campaigning: The Case for ‘Dumbing Down’ in the Fight against Local Electoral Apathy

There is widespread concern about declining rates of electoral participation. Local newspapers are essential components of local democracy but this article suggests that the energy, human interest and partiality they bring to their general campaigns are lacking in their coverage of political issues. It is posited that their relative failure to personalise and editorialise – to put it crudely, their failure to ‘dumb down’ their coverage of local politics – could contribute to electoral apathy about local elections.