Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The term “local news” is often used to refer to news with coverage of events in a local context, which would be contrasted with news of other localities, or of national or international scope (→  International News Reporting ). The geographic characteristics of local news have been regarded as forces with influence on shaping local media markets, labor, and media technology, which in turn affect local →  news values. The geographic local boundary assumed to be influential in the process of local news production is easily connected to the socially constructed “community” concept. Thus, local news is expected to play a role in networking the local community and serving local interests (→  Community Integration ). Local news has been studied both from the perspective of journalistic functions and roles for the local community and concerning changes in the local media market and technology (→  Journalists’ Role Perception ). The former approach deals with the problem of local news conveying a “chamber of commerce attitude” ( Breed 1958 , 111), rather than representing civic opinions and interests. The latter covers the consolidation of local news ownership into a handful of regionally based monopolies, which leads to a separation of journalists from their local readers and community. Also, local news faces challenges by new digital technologies, which are viewed more often than not ... log in or subscribe to read full text