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PrefaceThis book deals with local journalism. This is not a sexy topic. But it is an important topic, one that is intellectually interesting, often overlooked, and deserves more attention.
The book is structured as follows. The introduction presents an overview of existing research on local journalism as well as the structural changes currently underway. Part I (Chapters 1, 2, and 3) focuses on the role of local
journalism as part of the news media ecosystem in a range of different communities in Denmark, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Part II (Chapters 4, 5, and 6) focuses on
local journalism and its interlocutors with studies from Belgium, Norway, and the United Kingdom. Part III (Chapters 7, 8, and 9) focuses on
new forms of local media emerging that offer various degrees of and kinds of support for online-only forms of journalism and has studies from France,
the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
Several of the chapters included were initially presented at a conference Local Journalism around the World Professional Practices, Economic Foundations, and Political Implications hosted at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism in Oxford in February 2014. It was an interesting and wide-ranging event with papers from 16 different countries, underlining the many differences and similarities not only between local journalism indifferent countries, but also local journalism
indifferent communities, and the differences between local journalism and national and international journalism.
We would like to thank everyone who took part in the conference for two days of discussion that has done much to inform and improve much of what is presented in this book. In addition to the contributors to the book, the participants included Aleksandra Krstic, Ana Milojevic,
André Haller, Annika Bergström, Annika Sehl, Birgit Re Mathisen, Daniel H. Mutibwa,
David Ryfe, Diana Bossio, Dimitri Prandner, Dobin
Yim, Helle Sjøvaag, Ingela Wadbring, Ioannis Angelou,
Jonathan Albright, Local Journalism.indd 11 4/24/2015 7:10:24 PM
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Kirsi Hakaniemi, Kristy Hess, Lenka Waschkova Cisarova,
Lisa Waller,
Mato Brautovic, Penelope Abernathy, Saba Bebawi, Sanne Hille, Sonja
Kretzschmar, Vasileios Katsaras, and Verena Wassink.
Beyond the authors and
the conference participants, I as editor would like to thank Robert G. Picard (who led the work on organising the conference, Kate Hanneford-Smith and Monique Ricketts (for expert logistical assistance, Alex Reid (who has helped shepherd the book to publication, and especially David Levy, David Ryfe,
Ian Hargreaves, and
Katrin Voltmer for their constructive comments on the manuscript.
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, November 2014Local Journalism.indd 12 4/24/2015 7:10:24 PM
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