Community Journalism Community journalism is not simply a type of media outlet. It is also a concept, an idea. It focuses on management and reporters who are close their community and have an intimate relationship with those they cover (Byerly, 1961; Lauterer, 2006; Reader, 2012). Community journalism managers are still determining how to deal with declining readership, yet they have been somewhat protected because of the locational isolation and lack of competition in the markets many cover (Abernathy, 2014). Providing the audience a voice in hybrid print-online publications is one of those attempts (Graybeal, 2011). These efforts to provide the audience a voice started in print, but have since moved primarily online as a form of user-generated
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The overall economic factors facing community media are distinctive compared to those at larger publications (Lacy, 2012). This is because business relationships, like everything else in community media, are more intimate (Lacy, 2012). Community media do not have large enough staffs to separate business and editorial (Kennedy, 1974; Lauterer, 2006). Those who run community media outlets have a duel role as both working within both editorial and advertising (Kennedy, 1974; Lauterer, 2006). The business role has to be important to community news editors (Tichenor, Donohue, & Olien, 1980; Lauterer, 2006). Because of this community media have a less adversarial relationship with the business part of the operation compared to larger publications (Reader, 2012). The web has also changed the business-editorial relationship for all journalists. Modern journalists must come to the understanding that because of the web journalism has to act more like a business and journalists must understand that many of them will have more of a business role in the new online ecology of the media industry (Briggs, 2011). The web cannot be ignored because as Graybeal (2011) states the future of community media is not in print. Now that the differences of community journalism used in this dissertation have been established, it is time to move forward to the concept of …show more content…
Community can even be linked to someone’s professional or religious affiliation (Christians, Ferre, & Fackler, 1993). In this dissertation, the term community is used to define those who have a common interest relating to a specific geographic area, and more specifically the subscribers to a publication that focuses its coverage upon that area. The geographic limitation is pragmatic based on the location-focused content on the grand majority of community news websites. Community often equates to those who live within close proximity and have an interest in and connection to their neighbors (Tonnies, 1957). As Tonnies noted, this community based upon locality could persist even when someone is no longer near that location. A community media outlet can help to serve as a manner of keeping those removed from a locality part of the community (Tonnies,
The overall economic factors facing community media are distinctive compared to those at larger publications (Lacy, 2012). This is because business relationships, like everything else in community media, are more intimate (Lacy, 2012). Community media do not have large enough staffs to separate business and editorial (Kennedy, 1974; Lauterer, 2006). Those who run community media outlets have a duel role as both working within both editorial and advertising (Kennedy, 1974; Lauterer, 2006). The business role has to be important to community news editors (Tichenor, Donohue, & Olien, 1980; Lauterer, 2006). Because of this community media have a less adversarial relationship with the business part of the operation compared to larger publications (Reader, 2012). The web has also changed the business-editorial relationship for all journalists. Modern journalists must come to the understanding that because of the web journalism has to act more like a business and journalists must understand that many of them will have more of a business role in the new online ecology of the media industry (Briggs, 2011). The web cannot be ignored because as Graybeal (2011) states the future of community media is not in print. Now that the differences of community journalism used in this dissertation have been established, it is time to move forward to the concept of …show more content…
Community can even be linked to someone’s professional or religious affiliation (Christians, Ferre, & Fackler, 1993). In this dissertation, the term community is used to define those who have a common interest relating to a specific geographic area, and more specifically the subscribers to a publication that focuses its coverage upon that area. The geographic limitation is pragmatic based on the location-focused content on the grand majority of community news websites. Community often equates to those who live within close proximity and have an interest in and connection to their neighbors (Tonnies, 1957). As Tonnies noted, this community based upon locality could persist even when someone is no longer near that location. A community media outlet can help to serve as a manner of keeping those removed from a locality part of the community (Tonnies,