Local journalism, a global challenge

From Jakarta to Mumbai, from Osaka to North Carolina, from Brussels to Covilhã and Helsinki, from Cape Town to Nairobi, and from Buenos Aires to Florianópolis, Fortaleza, or Rio de Janeiro – studies on local journalism are everywhere. The circulation of concepts such as news deserts and semi-deserts (Torre et al., 2024) has sparked a global awareness that journalistic coverage of city affairs (or of communities within cities) is the most affected by the structural transformations of the profession (Mick; Christofoletti; Lima, 2021). While nationally-reaching media remain active, even if on online platforms or with precarious labor conditions, local outlets simply disappear, and the lack of information concerning the territories where citizens live has significant consequences – economic, sociopolitical, and cultural (Ramos et al., 2023).

This panel will bring together works that study different topics related to local journalism in Brazil or in other countries. Particularly welcome are studies focusing on:

a) the formulation or discussion of concepts or theories that contribute to the understanding of local journalism, including the debate on what constitutes "the local";
b) cases of resilience and viability of traditional media at the local level, as well as the emergence and stabilization of new outlets;
c) the adoption of transparency mechanisms capable of strengthening ties with audiences;
d) experiences with audience engagement and participation mechanisms (Ahva; Wiard, 2018);
e) the development of new languages or technologies to improve local journalism or foster community connection (Wenzel; Crittenden, 2021);
f) the relationship between local journalism and the context of platformization and big techs (dependency, autonomy, negotiations);
g) analyses of differences among local audiences and how these affect forms of access to information (generational, gender, socioeconomic, etc.);
h) the relationships between independent journalism and local journalism (Roque; Patrício, 2025); and
i) challenges related to financial sustainability.