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This paper has two analytic objectives: estimate the geographic distribution of social capital at the county scale for the United States (U.S.); and explain this spatial distribution of social capital by media activity and socio-demographic characteristics of a locality. To locate hotspots of social capital, we calculate a local indicator of spatial autocorrelation. Higher intensities of social capital are found in the Northeast and the Breadbasket states of Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, and the Dakota’s. Lower intensities of social capital are found in the South and de-industrialized Midwest. A thin diagonal band of counties, extending from southern Michigan to west Texas cleaves regional clusters of High-High (HH) and Low-Low (LL) social capital. Variation in social capital across the U.S. is linked to variations in media activity such as television, newspaper, and internet use that enhance and erode rates of local civic engagement, adjusting for critical socioeconomic variables. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on a prediction model of geographic variation in social capital in the U.S. The researchers set out to test a claim that heavy television exposure is responsible for wearing down the U.S. social capital and that newspaper use is a mechanism of community connectivity. A proposition that cultural capital is positively associated with social capital has also been tested. This study also examined the possible effect of government intervention on county social capital.

Women's sports not only receives less media coverage than male sports but also when women athletes are covered, sex role stereotypes are often reinforced and white athletes receive more coverage than athletes of color. This study compares USA Today's coverage of the top three professional women golfers during the 1998-2001 LPGA seasons. A content analysis of 649 articles indicates that in 1998 the coverage reflected the newsworthiness of the tournament results, however in 1999 and 2001 the coverage was more likely to privilege white women athletes. The data demonstrate that the media continue to represent the dominant ideology of gendered stereotypes of women athletes to the exclusion of balanced coverage for women of color. Implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]