What Does the Audience Experience as Valuable Local Journalism? Approaching local news quality from a user’s perspective

Irene Costera Meijer*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceedingChapterAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

This chapter addresses local news habits and preferences from an audience perspective. Drawing upon audience research done over a period of ten years in the Netherlands and placed in context using international research results, the notion of ‘valuable journalism’ is suggested as a conceptual bridge between what is usually defined as quality journalism (by journalists and users) and what users actually experience as local news quality. The findings suggest that giving more attention to specific topics (nature, environmental issues, history, safety and quality of care) and putting more emphasis on five news approaches (reciprocity and audience responsiveness as core to local news organisations’ business model, learning about the area, telling stories from within, facilitating regional orientation and honouring complexity) will provide news users with a more satisfying news experience for which they are willing to pay in money and/or attention.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Routledge Companion to Local Media and Journalism
EditorsAgnes Gulyas, David Baines
Place of PublicationAbingdon, Oxfordshire
PublisherRoutledge
Chapter34
Pages357-367
Number of pages11
ISBN (Electronic)9781351239943, 9781351239936
ISBN (Print)9780815375364
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2020

Bibliographical note

Working title: What does the audience want from local news? : A multimethod investigation of the experience of local and regional news users

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