Joshua Lipowski: A Look at the Current Reality and Future of Local News and Community Journalism
Community journalism and local news are things that virtually everyone comes across on a daily basis, yet, the face of community journalism is changing year to year.
It seems there is an oxymoron going on in the world of local news or community journalism. On one hand, It is highly valued by the people in communities. On the other hand there is the general perception that community journalism is either not as big as it once was or is outright dying out.
This only leads to more questions. Why is there a drop? How can local news adapt to this going forward?
To start, it is important to note that local journalists and local journalism is still very valued by the community. According to a study done by Pew Research on local news in the digital age, for local television stations, 76% of their new users are via the traditional television. Secondary to that, that same study reported that 38% of adults said that the primary way they got their local news was through local television.
The issue becomes more complex when one starts to look at newspapers rather than just television news. Timothy Karr talked in the Columbia Journalism Review about how simple times have changed, and the way newspapers used to have the grasp they did on society is simply not feasible anymore.
“This peak era for daily newspapers was due in large part to their unique ability to bundle information with daily advertisements targeted to local audiences,” Karr said.
That same Pew Research survey supports this idea as they report that only 13% of US adults get their local news via newspapers. This is compared to 41% on television and 37% online.
It is easy to see why online journalism and news has begun to shift the traditional way that media has been done. The Internet offers access tp an infinite amount of information right at your fingertips. Not only that, but there is also an immense amount of space for advertisers to advertise to even more people than the traditional newspaper can.
It can be concluded from here that local news simply needs to shift their focus from what they once were. They are not the same empires for local news that they were 25 years ago. The world has changed, and local news must change with it.
The idea of the Internet changing how local news goes about their business is far from a new concept. As hard as it is to believe, the Internet has been a large part of society for over 20 years at this point. Andrea Wenzel talked more about how the early days of Internet opened the door for more interactivity with the audience in her book Community Centered Journalism: Engaging People, Exploring Solutions and Building Trust.
“While a number of our programs had a history of hosting face-to-face community discussions or inviting listeners to call in, with the Internet we could ask listeners to email us and later to fill out basic web forms. “ Wenzel said.
Social media has further expanded that platform for interactivity amongst local news stations. Social media is also a place that is becoming a common place for news to be broken as well.
Nowdays, when you are anticipating a major news story to break, were do you most often look first? Many of you would probably say Twitter. Social media is often the first place people find out about new stories now.
It can also be deduced that the younger people are, the more prevelant social media becomes to them. According to a second Pew Research study done by Jacob Liedke and Jeffrey Gottfried, 50% of individuals aged 18–29 have at least some trust in what they read on social media. This is compared to 56% for national news organizations and 62% for local news organizations.
This makes it all the more imperative for local news organizations and local journalists to be active on social media. If they want to keep the attention of the younger audience, and, therefore, be able to stay relevant in the media landscape. Social media is the place to go for that.
It becomes even more vital at this point for younger people to be working at the local level as well. They have an understanding of how social media works and how it can influence stories and break news.
If a local news organization cannot figure this out, then how can a local news organization survive? If a local news organization does not survive, then how will there be local coverage of things in the community.
People still value local news regardless of what some may say. The reality is that the landscape of local news is changing drastically, and local news organizations need to adapt to it. Without this adaptation, there is no telling what the future holds for all kinds of local news.
The community would be very upset if their local news organization was not there anymore for one reason or another. It is important that they use the new tools they have to better themselves for the future.
