In this article, Kielbowicz documents how the concept of localism influenced communications policymaking well before the advent of the electronic media (indeed, as far back as the 1790s). Specifically, he shows how Congress instituted policies, such as postal subsidies, that were designed in such a way as to favor local community papers over nationally circulated urban papers. Kielbowicz explores these and related issues in his somewhat hard to find book, News in the Mail: the Press, Post Office, and Public Information, 1700-1860 (Greenwood Press).