Publication details
The local newsroom as a space for content makers and their audiences: Observations from the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic
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| Year of publication | 2015 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| Citation | |
| Description | It has been argued widely that local media are in a state of crisis and as a consequence their community and democratic roles are jeopardized. In this paper we argue that lo- cal newsrooms need to be physically embedded in the localities that they report on not only for obvious reasons (such as the local characteristics of their contents) but also because the existence of a physical space in which content producers interact with their audiences actually strengthens the community and democratic roles of local media. We explore the nature of this interactive space using examples of commercial and public service local media as well as community and hyperlocal media from the United King- dom and the Czech Republic. The two countries offer insights into differently developed local media. While the United Kingdom has a lively community radio scene where the newsroom space also acts as a shared communal space, community media do not exist as institutionalized actors in the Czech Republic. Similarly, the UK hyperlocal content scene is extensive and works with a variety of funding sources (and raises issues around the virtual nature of spaces in which content producers interact among themselves and with their audiences) in contrast with a fledgling hyperlocal scene in the Czech Republic. |