scholarly journals Local Journalism when the Journalists Leave Town

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (s2) ◽  
pp. 15-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Karlsson ◽  
Erika Hellekant Rowe

Abstract Editorial offices are being shut down in small municipalities, raising the question of whether hyperlocal media can fill the gap left by legacy media. However, very little is known about the shape of this gap and thus to what extent it can be filled by hyperlocal media. To inform this line of research, this study asks: what happens to the news coverage of a municipality when there is no permanent presence of journalists? A quantitative content analysis (N = 606), measuring news topics, framing, style, original reporting and sourcing practices, was performed regarding the news coverage of 12 Swedish municipalities – six with editorial offices of a legacy media organisation and six without. The results indicate that municipalities receive less original coverage, community news receives less attention and institutional actors are quoted more often when there is no permanent presence of journalists. Implications for communities and hyperlocal media are discussed.

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daleen Al Ibrahim ◽  
Yibin Shi

This study compares RT Arabic and Sky News Arabia websites in their coverage of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria violent organization known as ISIS from 1 June 2014 until 30 June 2016, in terms of framing type and the image reflected about ISIS. The quantitative content analysis of the news articles shows similarities and few differences in the news coverage of ISIS. The study suggests that RT and Sky News share a few features in framing ISIS but still differ significantly. The two websites adopt mainly the conflict frame in presenting ISIS issues; however, they report ISIS differently when it comes to violence and human interest frames. The findings also reveal that RT and Sky News differ partially in the image reflected about ISIS on their websites. RT has exaggerated ISIS’s image more distinctly than Sky News. Besides, even though threat is the most dominant discourse about ISIS in the two websites, RT promotes ISIS as powerful and exaggerates its strength in its coverage more than Sky News.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 190-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Somaini

This study investigated the representations of immigrants emerging from frames used in news stories in the two largest-circulation daily newspapers in Arizona: The Arizona Republic and the Arizona Daily Star. A quantitative content analysis of 380 stories published in the two dailies’ websites in 2013 found the news coverage of immigration generally unfavorable to immigrants. Stories framed episodically provided less negative representations of immigrants than stories framed thematically did. Journalists interested in producing more diversified coverage of immigration should consider writing more stories using a predominantly episodic frame.


2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (s1) ◽  
pp. 765-787
Author(s):  
Alfonso Corral ◽  
Leen d’Haenens

AbstractThe aim of this article is to analyze how the Spanish newspapers covered an international event such as the Egyptian spring from 2011 to 2013. From the perspective of the representation of Arab-Islamic issues, this study carries out a quantitative content analysis on the four reference newspapers in Spain (ABC, El Mundo, El País, and La Vanguardia) to find out whether there was an Islamophobic or Islamophilic treatment during the Egyptian revolution. The results of the 3,045 articles analyzed show that Spanish newspapers were remarkably interested in Egyptian events and that cultural discourses were not relevant in the coverage. However, it is necessary to specify these outcomes by newspaper, because each paper proposed its own take on the matter based on information provided by press agencies.


2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne M. Almgren ◽  
Tobias Olsson

Abstract Social plugins for sharing news through Facebook and Twitter have become increasingly salient features on news sites. Together with the user comment feature, social plugins are the most common way for users to contribute. The wide use of multiple features has opened new areas to comprehensively study users’ participatory practices. However, how do these opportunities to participate vary between the participatory spaces that news sites affiliated with local, national broadsheet and tabloid news constitute? How are these opportunities appropriated by users in terms of participatory practices such as commenting and sharing news through Facebook and Twitter? In addition, what differences are there between news sites in these respects? To answer these questions, a quantitative content analysis has been conducted on 3,444 articles from nine Swedish online newspapers. Local newspapers are more likely to allow users to comment on articles than are national newspapers. Tweeting news is appropriated only on news sites affiliated with evening tabloids and national morning newspapers. Sharing news through Facebook is 20 times more common than tweeting news or commenting. The majority of news items do not attract any user interaction.


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