When a local California newspaper experimented with dropping national politics from its opinion page, the vacuum filled with local writers and issues. Subsequently, politically engaged readers reported feeling less distant from members of the opposing party when compared with a control. Could local newspapers change the course of political division in America for the better?

HxA kicks off its fall Member Spotlight Series with Matthew Hitt, Monfort Professor and Associate Professor of Political Science at Colorado State University, who will discuss his research into the profound and unexpected ways local newspapers could potentially heal America’s political chasms.