Missouri is very similar to the national trends in the way people follow news and discuss politics with others (28.6% low news/low discussion, 25.1% high news/low discussion, 15.5% low news/high discussion, and 30.8% high news/high discussion).

Contrary to the national trend, however, access to news and having political discussions are not related to higher rates of volunteering in Missouri. Engagement in political discussions, but not keeping up with news, predicts whether people work with their neighbors to solve community problems.

In Missouri those who both keep up with news and discuss politics with others are three times more likely to work with their neighbors to solve community problems than all others.

Access to information is not highly predictive of whether people donate money in Missouri,though those who both keep up with news and discuss politics are more likely to do so.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION BY SOCIAL CAPITAL AND VOTING
Many scholars of democracy argue that a well–informed citizenry is necessary for a vibrant civil society. As the data reported below reveal, this is true in Missouri. The tables below show that there are clear relationships between how often Missourians access news and information through various types of media and their levels of social capital and voting.

TELEVISION
• There is a very strong, positive association between the frequency with which Missourians watch the news on television and their levels of social capital and voting.
• Missourians who watch the news on television daily have much higher levels of social capital and vote at a much higher rate than those who watch the news less frequently.

NEWSPAPER
• While the association is not as strong for newspaper readership, there is clearly a positive relationship between the frequency with which Missourians read newspapers in print or online and their levels of social capital and voting.
• Missourians who read a newspaper daily had higher levels of social capital and voting than those who read the news less frequently.
• Interestingly, a higher percentage of Missourians who do not read a newspaper participate in at least one group compared to those who read a newspaper once per month,
• A higher percentage of Missourians who do not read a newspaper are also more likely to talk with their neighbors, do favors for their neighbors, eat dinner with their family, and vote, than those who read a newspaper a few times per month or once per month.

RADIO
• In general, there is a positive relationship between the frequency with which Missourians get their news and information from the radio and their levels of social capital.
• However, while levels of social capital and voting decline as the frequency of accessing news from the radio declines, it is noteworthy that there is a sharp increase in every measure of social capital and voting for those who do not access news from the radio at all.