For more than a century, local journalism has been taken almost for granted. But the twenty-first century has brought major challenges. The newspaper industry that has historically provided most local coverage is in decline and it is not yet clear whether digital media will sustain new forms of local journalism. This book provides an international overview of the challenges facing changing forms of local journalism today. It identifies the central role that diminished newspapers still play in local media ecosystems, analyses relations between local journalists and politicians, government officials, community activists and ordinary citizens, and examines the uneven rise of new forms of digital local journalism. Together, the chapters present a multi-faceted portrait of the precarious present and uncertain future of local journalism in the Western world.

Tables and Figures viiContributors ixPreface xiIntroduction: The Uncertain Future of Local Journalism 1Rasmus Kleis NielsenPart I Local Media Ecosystems 1. The News Crisis Compared: The Impact of the Journalism Crisis on Local News Ecosystems in Toulouse (France) and Seattle (US) 31Matthew Powers, Sandra Vera Zambrano, and Olivier Baisnée2. Local Newspapers as Keystone Media: The Increased Importance of Diminished Newspapers for Local Political Information Environments 51Rasmus Kleis Nielsen3. How News Travels: A Comparative Study of Local Media Ecosystems in Leeds (UK) and Philadelphia (US) 73C. W. Anderson, Stephen Coleman, and Nancy ThumimPart II Local Journalism and its Interlocutors 4. The Plurality of Journalistic Identities in Local Controversies 99Florence Le Cam and David Domingo5. Rethinking Local Communicative Spaces: Implications of Digital Media and Citizen Journalism for the Role of Local Journalism in Engaging Citizens 117 Julie Firmstone and Stephen Coleman 6. Perceived Relevance of and Trust in Local Media 141 Bengt Engan Part III New Forms of Local Media 7. Between Journalistic Diversity and Economic Constraints: Local Pure Players in Southern France 165 Nikos Smyrnaios, Emmanuel Marty, and Franck Bousquet 8. Hyperlocal with a Mission? Motivation, Strategy, Engagement 185 Marco van Kerkhoven and Piet Bakker 9. Filling the News Hole? UK Community News and the Crisis in Local Journalism 203 Andy Williams, Dave Harte, and Jerome Turner Index