J-Source

The new localism – who will deliver it?

Several community papers are on the ropes, including the Morinville and Jasper papers, prompting a Globe and Mail online poll: Is a local newspaper important? The question follows a recent U.S. poll that found local papers won’t be missed by many. Whether the day’s tidings appear in newsprint, on a cell phone or hammered into…

Several community papers are on the ropes, including the Morinville and Jasper papers,
prompting a Globe and Mail online poll: Is a local
newspaper important?
The question follows a recent U.S.
poll that found local
papers won’t be missed
by many.

Whether the day’s tidings appear in newsprint, on a cell
phone or hammered into a stone tablet, the more operative question might be: is
local news important? With hyper-local blog
sites blooming
, clearly people still want news of community happenings, no
matter who delivers it. The New York Times is one of several papers that have responded by launching neighbourhood-level
blogs
.

“Local is pretty much where we believe our future is,”
says Tampa Tribune senior editor Dennis Joyce in Lessons from Tampa
about local news
. How you define ‘local,’ how to network local news
globally, and how to re-organize a newsroom around local reporting are hot
topics in J-Source’s Community
Journalism Online
portal, edited by Robert Washburn.  


Several community papers are on the ropes, including the Morinville and Jasper papers,
prompting a Globe and Mail online poll: Is a local
newspaper important?
The question follows a recent U.S.
poll that found local
papers won’t be missed
by many.

Whether the day’s tidings appear in newsprint, on a cell
phone or hammered into a stone tablet, the more operative question might be: is
local news important? With hyper-local blog
sites blooming
, clearly people still want news of community happenings, no
matter who delivers it. The New York Times is one of several papers that have responded by launching neighbourhood-level
blogs
.

“Local is pretty much where we believe our future is,”
says Tampa Tribune senior editor Dennis Joyce in Lessons from Tampa
about local news
. How you define ‘local,’ how to network local news
globally, and how to re-organize a newsroom around local reporting are hot
topics in J-Source’s Community
Journalism Online
portal, edited by Robert Washburn.  

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Patricia W. Elliott is a magazine journalist and assistant professor at the School of Journalism, University of Regina. You can visit her at patriciaelliott.ca.