Was Local Journalism Absorbed By Global Or Is It Just An Idle Gossip?

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4 How Do Local News Stations Make Money?

5 How Local Media Meets Readership Demand

Under urbanism influence, we can notice a decreasing tendency of everything related to the local: local stores, local production, local bookstores, and local restaurants. It is difficult to find something natural, authentic, and local; the local has become rare and valuable. When we travel, we prefer local apartments rented out to tourists by an elderly couple instead of hotels, because we want to explore more flavor, than enjoy typical tourists’ entertainment. Locals can always recommend the most convenient way to get to the bus, the cheapest and the most delicious restaurants, and some hidden gems in the area or city. Many people agree that their experience with everything local is more memorable than their experience with tourist-guided tours.

Unfortunately, the same is true of local journalism. Larger ones often claim local newspapers, popular publishing houses buy unpopular ones, regional ones control local channels. So, is there a place for local journalism among the madness of big brands? The question is still open, but let’s investigate this issue in this article!

What is Local Journalism?

‘Local Journalism’ is a term that describes journalists’ work, publishing materials, newspapers, and channels in an exact area, city, town, or region. Local Journalism covers news, issues, and historical and economic contexts for the specified areas, for example, a problem with a crop failure among farmers in a small town or a price rise on dairy products due to the expensive feeding of cows. It should cover the most essential and relevant news for people, and rarely go beyond the global – this is what global journalism exists for. None of the world’s journalistic channels can better cover so many issues and news relevant to a small town than local journalistic channels, which daily maintain contact with the society of small towns and understand it like no one else.

Local journalism is an equal part of democracy in use because it raises human consciousness through local news and coverage of important issues among a small group of people. Exactly local journalism makes it possible to reach society and inform citizens, and many people believe that local journalism is leading the future. By the way, this industry is currently suffering due to the era of digitalization. Computers are replacing newspapers and telephones are replacing communication. We are used to reading the emotionality of the news based on emoticons written in them, which is a problem for our critical thinking. Although digitization is convenient and fast, it actually kills comprehensive analysis. When we read some news, we first look at other people’s reactions, we don’t think first. It takes time to regain your critical thinking skills, but it’s not impossible!

Local journalism is important not only for small towns but also for urban areas. Small problems may be ignored by the government when someone just posts them online, but it can change the dynamic when people come together and voice their issues. People are responsible for solving their problems directly, they shouldn’t sit around and wait for someone else to solve their problems for them. Local mass media are going to develop people’s ability to solve problems, not to be silent neither in grief nor in joy.

Local Journalism Work Principles

Local journalism is no different from any other journalism, but we want to highlight some characteristic aspects for understanding better work principles.

Listening

On the one hand, this may be obvious, but on the other, it is critically important. The right listening at the right time can open so many doors for us and help so many people. Every point of view should be recorded or written as it can increase respect among people. Of course, this can strain relationships due to diversity of opinion, but society must not only listen but also hear others to make our world a better place.

Sharing

When someone is listening, one should be sincere. Even if it is so demanding, sharing your own life experiences can change people’s minds for the better. Perception of different points of view is the key to democracy because people listen and share. Therefore people are aware of various life situations, which can be attributed to local news. Global Journalism is trying to shut down the voices of local media, so we need to learn how to struggle.

Cooperating

This principle embraces human collaboration as digital collaboration. The same weapons that destroyed Local News can be used to rebuild them. Through the Internet, you can quickly communicate and quickly share any problems. Yes, users often cross borders and may intimidate someone for diversity, but it is still an option to learn to collaborate to share community concerns and experiences with others. Just as it can destroy, it can also help.

Creating

Creating a safe place for everyone is the main task of local media. Local media works for people, not against them. Every person has to have a place, where no one can be judged. A great idea would be to create an X (Twitter) community where everyone can post about issues, or create a hub where everyone can come and share. These places can change minds, and perceptions and get things done, which is a plus for local journalists.

Developing

This principle covers all developments: minds, villages, protests, processes, hubs, profiles, everything! Don’t stay in one position for journalism. Local news is more important than global news because small problems create huge problems. Development can cover every field of journalism because, in the absence of development, every organization cannot develop and change.

In general, local journalism principles are about building a trusting space between the reporter and citizen; increasing people’s consciousness about the situation in a region or area; enforcing people to say their concerts loudly; and listening and hearing various points of view to understand others better.

Local Media News

For many decades in the media space, regional journalism was considered too rustic, involved, and underdeveloped. Over the past few years, everything has changed radically, and now local journalists can teach their colleagues in the capital a lot. Many local businesses’ closure leads to less public awareness, thus giving the government space to control important aspects of ordinary people’s lives.

Nowadays, people lack reliable news channels or organizations because of the dominance of the government. However, the situation is gradually changing now that various organizations are encouraging the development and grants for local channels. We gathered some incredible local news organizations, which certainly surprise you.

The Beacon was founded in Kansas and Missouri in 2020 with support from the American Journalism Project and the Wichita Community Foundation. It is a nonprofit organization dedicated to grassroots issues such as health care, education, the economy, the environment, and civic engagement in Kansas and Missouri. Ordinary problems give rise to new problems and serious ones, so it is important to voice them and prevent them. They strive to serve every resident of these two states and manage newsrooms. In fact, they opened a second newsroom in Wichita, Kansas in July 2021.
Spotlight PA is located in Pennsylvania and is an independent and nonprofit newsroom, which covers high-quality investigative public-service journalism about the state government. The organization aims to draw the attention of the authorities to the problems of the state, which should strengthen democracy and improve the population’s standard of living. In general, their activities concern mainly political topics, but they are also open to the affairs of ordinary people. Now, they have articles about how to vet the candidates for the presidential election, state allocations, and a yearlong investigation into Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana.
Founded in 2009, the Institute for Nonprofit News is a network of high journalistic standards and promotes nonprofit journalism in the media. In 2021, INN is also known for helping 60 rural non-profit news organizations, and in 2022 the number of collaborations has increased to 70. They cover about 47 states and have about 75 INN-member newsrooms in 2024! Many organizations owe their popularity to INN, such as WNYC (New York), CalMatters (California), Mississippi Today (Mississippi), Honolulu Civil Beat (Hawai’i), ProPublica, The Conversation, etc.
Mississippi Today is a nonprofit online newspaper that was founded in 2016. This newspaper is popular for its investigation of the Mississippi welfare funds scandal, due to which it won the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, can you imagine? Mississippi Today publishes three podcasts each week: The Other Side, Crooked Letter Sports, and Mississippi Stories, and covers health, environment, government, justice, and education topics. They also have a Marshall Ramsay cartoons section that deals with political themes. The online newspaper is made with high quality and is in great demand. Mississippi Today also has a function to donate to the organization if you wish to support them.
Mother Jones is a non-profit American magazine that first appeared on the shelves in 1976. The magazine focuses mainly on political topics, as well as ecology, human rights, health and culture. In 2013, Mother Jones won an Izzy Award for its investigation of gun violence in the United States and its coverage of dark money in candidate funding. However, MoJo is often seen as controversial due to its staff editorial stance, exploitation of interns, and misinterpretation of homeless data.

How Do Local News Stations Make Money?

Someone might think that philanthropy is a great thing, but can local non-profit organizations make real money for even people’s basic needs? It is obvious, that every person needs something to eat to create new useful content. And the answer is yes, it is absolutely possible. But for starters, set yourself up for out-of-pocket expenses and do a little hobby work, or eventually find a sponsor. The path is rough, but the goal is pure. Philanthropy is fascinating, but journalists demand resources for amazing investigations. Here are some ways to earn money from your nonprofit local media organization:

Donation

The first is the most appropriate way to get some support from readers. You’re giving your readers access to high-quality and frequent content, so there’s a good chance they will want to thank you for it or for developing your skills. There is no shame in donating, you are not begging for money, you are just letting readers support you. It would also be great to add some additional content for donaters, and it might also encourage other readers to support you. The donation amount should be affordable, or you can also add an option to donate the reader’s desired amount. So, set up your donation features and enjoy!

Collaboration with others

Many brands can support your initiative by collaborating with them. For example, they can buy an advertisement in your newspaper or site, or ask you to record a video with their product. Cooperation on a barter basis is also beneficial, both for local mass media and for the advertiser. An interview or writing a story about an influencer will increase reader engagement and get more people interested in your local business. Build trust and collaborate – this is the main key!

Awards

Meaningful stories and investigations catch the eye of granters or awards. Victory in journalistic competitions is not always about a statuette, but also about a monetary reward. Find a cool atypical plot, choose smart people for the team, and make the investigation of the year! Prizes from contests can be extra high, but first aim for winnings among the region or city, then the country and the whole world. Step by step you will reach your goal.

How Local Media Meets Readership Demand

Only 20 years have passed, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a person who regularly watches television and waits for the evening news to learn about the day’s main events. These are mainly elderly people who cannot use a smartphone to read the news. The new generation is constantly sharing news, topics, memes, and recording tiktoks and they are always aware of every single trend in the world. Readers now need the latest news and content about what directly concerns them, preferably as quickly and as fresh as possible. Every global news story, whether it’s a war or the Met Gala, is published faster than the average person knows. This news can already be considered from all angles, discussed, and digested while we’re literally brushing our teeth. But is all this news really about what is important to us now?

For decades, most journalists fed their readers exposure and sensationalism, when people were interested in something completely different. For example, will the school work in their village, will there be heat in the apartments, and when will the water supply be repaired? Unsatisfied reader demand was to be finally transformed into regional local mass media. Now, the city residents are aware of all the news of the city and know when the store on the corner will open, whether the electricity will be turned off today, and what problem has not yet been solved.