Final Blog Post

With our unpredictable economy and market, there’s definitely a lot of fear for the future of community journalism. The advertising dollars surrounding journalism are going straight to digital content. Not only that, but many individuals are losing interest in local news altogether.

According to research analyst, Clara Henderickson, she says that few people have very little interest in reading up on their local news and that the audience still continues to shrink today.

“News consumers have become less inclined to follow local sources of news, instead preferring to read, listen, and watch content from outlets focused on national news coverage,” Henderickson said.

I think that people don’t care as much as to what’s happening in their community unless it personally affects them such as a dangerous situation. People get too caught up in worldwide and national news, that they forget to focus on what’s happening around them.

Community and local news is important because it provides a community where people can know more about one another and it inspires people to become more active participants in their community.

When local news coverage drops, public finances skyrocket as well. Following the disappearance of the newspaper, the cost of government goes up. Taxes, payrolls, average wages, and deficits all rise.

“With fewer newspapers around, rising borrowing costs have added hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cost of a typical issuance,” says Michael Hendrix from the Manhattan Institute.

Even though I agree that local news outlets will have to work harder to keep up with the market and modern age, I don’t think it’s completely unfeasible. Also, I think it’s very important for people to realize that all forms of media bring something different and consumers will be drawn by the various types available.

For example, some people like physically holding something such as a newspaper when receiving their news. With just a few quick clicks, some people prefer reading a quick summary of their news online verses the people who prefer listening to the radio and getting more detail about their news.

Overall, it really depends on the age demographic and each age group will prefer different ways in receiving their news. It’s important to tailor each in such a way to keep that appeal to people.

What makes the world go round is the people that live in it. In order for things to function, we need to work together as one. The textbook says that if people are the most important thing on the planet, then community is what life is all about.

We need communities in order to thrive because weren’t put on this Earth to live alone. All the more reason why we need to bring more awareness to local news.

As explained by the chair of the board of the Canadian Associates of Journalists, Dale Bass, she says that people don’t pay as much attention to local and community news because nothing seems to spark their interest within their community.

“I think one of the first things the community can do to improve its own sustainability, promote itself and provide meaningful and interesting stories to media is to first figure out what they’re about and why people should care,” says Bass. “They think we wanna cover cheque presentations; that’s the last thing we want.”

However, by involving community members more directly either through story writing or story ideas, people are invested in the news that they’re watching, which means they’ll be more willing to pay for content. That’s beneficial for the news outlet because they can show potential advertisers all of the interest they are receiving.

I’ve often found that people are more interested in a media outlet when the outlet promotes content submissions or even things like letters to the editor. Content like this grasps attention because people can participate in it and it’s something that personally concerns them.

Even though community journalism is something that needs more attention, there are negative effects that occur when community journalism isn’t valued properly. Members of the community do not have enough adequate information to make the right decisions and hold those in power accountable for their actions.

Without community journalism, members of a community will turn to national news where they will see generalized stereotypes, not specific and important information in their local community.

Unfortunately, there’s no easy or simple solution to this problem. People can’t be forced to like something or put forth value towards something they don’t see fit.

In the first amendment, the first article of the Bill of Rights, our freedom of speech and press was protected. It was understood how vital good journalism is to a democracy because it keeps people informed and keeps powerful people in check.

Community journalism does, and always will, have a place in society. In order for local news to survive, it’s crucial that people value the role that community journalists play and give them funding and support to do their jobs effectively.