9422386 Arnold This project explores how 25 local newspapers covered 25 members of the House of Representatives between January 1, 1993, and November 8, 1994. The project involves searching all editions of the chosen newspapers for any articles, editorials, columns, or letters that mention the selected representatives, coding the 7,500 to 8,000 items for their content, analyzing the coded data with quantitative methods, and analyzing all individual items with qualitative methods. The project is designed to determine whether local newspapers report the kinds of information that citizens would need to hold representatives accountable for their actions in office. The basic assumption is that unbiased and readilyy available information enhances the prospects for accountability, while incomplete or biased information serves to thwart it. The study will explore the regularity with which local newspapers report roll-call votes, the amount of information newspapers provide about the issues under consideration and why representatives voted as they did, the extent to which newspapers cover representatives' other activities, including introducing bills, holding hearings, and building coalitions, and the types of policy issues that attract journalists' attention. The research will also investigate whether newspapers recount representatives' policy-related activities during subsequent electoral campaigns. ***
