Local Journalism Critical Perspectives on the Provincial Newspaper

Local Journalism investigates the range of meanings associated with the ‘local newspaper’ and considers how digital technology has disrupted the fabric of the local news industry. Divided into two parts, this book first provides a theoretical account of how normative meanings associated with the local newspaper have been challenged by the impact of digital technology and then goes on to explore these questions via case studies drawn from a variety of contexts including the US, Ireland, Denmark, the UK and Spain. It suggests three thematic ways of understanding the role of the legacy local newspaper in a post-digital environment, namely as an information provider, commercial entity and community champion. While much scholarship talks of their demise, this book argues for a more nuanced understanding of the local newspaper and its continued significance to people, places and commercial interests. Local Journalism will benefit students, academics and researchers in the areas of journalism, media studies and sociology.

List of Figures List of Tables List of Contributors Preface Introduction: Perspectives on the local newspaper. Rachel Matthews Section 1. Local newspapers as information provider Platforms and Pay Models: How local news organisations in five European countries are navigating the challenges and opportunities of digital disruption Joy Jenkins Unravelling the discourse of hyperlocal Dave Harte Exploring the links between newspaper closures, social deprivation and hyperlocal websites in the coverage of Parliamentary elections Dave Toomer Local media and territory in Denmark Flemming Svith Section 2. Making money from local newspapers Who’s buying the news? The many incarnations of the local newspaper in India Priya Rajasekar and Shriram Venkatraman The economic crisis in Ireland’s local press. Anthony Cawley Organisational culture and its impact on local newspapers Sarah O’Hara Institutional pressures on the changing local news industry in the US Joaquin Cestino Section 3. Local newspapers and community How close? Addressing the complexity of the relationship between local newspapers, local journalists and local audience Lenka Waschkova Basque identity and representation in Basque newspapers Eneko Bidegain, Ainhoa Larranga and Igor Agirre. A solutions approach to the current landscape for UK newspapers Tor Clark Local newspapers: can they view the community through a different lens? David Baines Index

Rachel Matthews is Associate Director in the Institute of Creative Cultures at Coventry University, England. She researches the past, present and future of the provincial newspaper industry. Her academic interest builds on her career working across editorial departments in weekly and daily titles in the UK. Guy Hodgson is a lecturer for the Open University, UK,and, on a sessional basis, Liverpool John Moores University, England. His research interest is the reporting of historical events by local and national newspapers. He has worked as a journalist and lecturer for50 years.