Differentiating distance in local and hyperlocal news

Abstract

Journalism studies has undergone a geographic turn in which considerable research has sought to reconceptualise understandings of place and space in the digitally networked environment. This article argues that the concept of distance, as the physical spaces between places, has largely been overlooked in journalism research but could add a useful dimension when examining the construction and consumption of local and hyperlocal news. Empirical research into the news contexts of a geographically large rural Australian municipality, and the diverse experiences of two towns situated a sizable distance apart, reveals a paradox in the place-making value of news. While closeness between newsrooms and audiences benefits the development of a sense of community, outlets at a greater distance from smaller towns are more likely to offer balanced political coverage of public interest matters. These findings suggest that there is a need for a well-developed theory of distance that can account for the complexities of news contexts within and between ruralities.

Power Struggles in a Small Town Community: The Intersection of Rural Environmental Protest, Politics, and Hyperlocal News Media

“…The mediatization of environmental conflict—the negotiations and interactions between news and journalism, formal politics, activism, and commercial activities—has been well documented, including the news media's agenda-setting practices, framing of environmental contests, and role of media visibility in protests, decision making and policy (Hutchins and Lester 2015). Environmental matters are often constructed in news stories through polarized discourses that position business and economic interests in opposition to conservation and preservation concerns (Lucas and Warman 2018). But when environmental debates involve contestations over the “sanctity” and well-being of place (Hutchins and Lester 2006), these discourses connect to the shared lived experiences and place-based attachments of communities; that is, the identity, bonds, and behaviors connected to locales, including their natural environments, symbolic dimensions and histories (Baines 2012; Mihaylov and Perkins 2015).…”

“…Campaigns, protests, and hyperlocal news have a demonstrably mixed record of enabling effective citizen voices and interrupting the exercise of power by government authorities and commercial interests (cf. Colvin et al 2016; Foxwell-Norton 2017; Lucas and Warman 2018). Nonetheless, this variability does not negate their importance as symbolic evidence that media-based democratic practices and cultures exist within communities.…”

“…For example, the stewardship of developments often involves struggles for control between place-based communities and government institutions that are physically distanced and culturally detached from local understandings of place (Foxwell-Norton 2017; Woods 2003). In news media representations, rural environmental disputes are frequently positioned as culturally inferior and “othered” when juxtaposed against images of cities, urbanization, and discourses of ecological modernization that align with corporate interests (Lucas and Warman 2018; Woods 2003). As the case study presented below shows, rural protests in favor of environmental conservation are positioned as “backwards” and “anti-development” and delegitimize protesters’ place attachment.…”

“…By examining the connections between community activism, news, and local government processes, this article analyzes the unequal distribution of power in highly contested rural environmental politics. The power inequalities running throughout environmental conflicts manifest through specifically place-based challenges for rural communities, and involve the expression of opposing conceptions of community interest and rurality (Lucas and Warman 2018; Mihaylov and Perkins 2015; Woods 2003). These dynamics raise questions about the legitimacy of local government consultation processes that fail to consider a range of community views in decision making (Colvin et al 2016; Walsh et al 2017).…”

Towards (Hyper)Local Public Sphere: Comparison of Civic Engagement across the Global North

“…Despite liminal field positions in terms of capital and resources, small hyperlocal media demonstrate physical proximity with their audiences and tend to produce a sense of community togetherness (Örnebring et al, 2020). The capacities of Internet and digital technologies enable hyperlocal initiatives to enhance local deliberative processes and present a multitude of local voices in public interest matters (Freeman, 2020).…”