This week my Blog topic was taken from pointer.org. The blog-posting asks the question: Is Local News Dead?
Author Katja Riefler describes a newspaper conference discussion where the question is posed about local newspaper. But she turns the question deeper. Her post expands the question to include the next step in local news in all formats.
My theory on the future of local news is- there will always be local happenings that appeal to only the small population that lives in proximity to that news. Through convergence the details of these stories will manifest in small chatroom-like web venues such as MySpace, more rapidly than ever before. But, on the whole ‘local news’ is becoming obsolete because items that would have been in the local domain such as local weather and sports will make their impact on regional based web-casts rather than focusing on the cities or small towns from which they originate unless they have world-wide appeal. Local human interest stories will fade away unless their novelty extends to a worldwide audience.
I experienced such convergence this week watching the local news on television while being on-line the moment Anna Nicole Smith died. The local newscaster advised the audience to keep watching for more information on this breaking story. The Anna Nicole Smith-dies-at-39 story is focused in our time zone and in our state so any updates the local news can provide are going to be slower than Internet posts because of their production time before airing. Advice to “stay turned” is laughable since the major news organizations, like Reuters or Associated Press, post updates far more frequently on-line than a local newscast could provide. I typed in her name and received more than enough data about the life and times of the iconic Ms. Smith again reinforcing the fact that local news can not compete with the Internet for volume, speed or specificity.
What do you think the future of local news will be?
2 comments:
Agree with you and the author that local new will definetkly die out as regional takes over. In my hometown of wayne nj-- you see this with ever type of media. Since we are are (wayne NJ) only about 19 miles from NYC- in the 90's everything shifted and focused on NYC. We used to have major local stations, and now practically everyone in the tri-state area watches a good morning NY type of deal. NY def caters to the other staes too. If you live in the cit, like my father, you always know whats going on in Jersey, Conneticit and Penna, bc your major newspapers and tv station cover it. Plus, as you mentioned, with the web based, myspace style blogging, people can have access to local news and discussion whenever, dimishing the need for any local news stations.
Local news is very important to the communities near by but there is also more for major news organizations to just do nation or world wide news to try to get all the important events out about things happening all over.I prefer local new beacuse i like to know what is going on where i live but whats usually going on outside of our community seems to be "more important" to stations providing the information.
Post a Comment