Local newspapers help curb corporate corruption, research shows

A new study published by the Journal of Financial Economics has quantified the role local journalism plays in helping to curb a multiple measures of corporate corruption.

Findings indicate that potential environmental, labour relations, employment discrimination, and workplace safety violations increased in the three years after a local newspaper closed down.

One reason for the effect, the authors said, is that local newspapers provide greater coverage of local companies than national publications typically do.

You can read a longer overview of the study here.