Editors
Jaigris Hodson, Royal Roads University
Asmaa Malik, Ryerson University
Editorial review committee
Jaigris Hodson, Royal Roads University
April Lindgren, Ryerson University
Asmaa Malik, Ryerson University
Michael Munnik, Cardiff University
The Future of Local News: Research and Reflections is the result of a cross-Atlantic editorial collaboration that focused specifically on the current and future state of local news around the world. It brings together peer-reviewed papers by academics who gathered in Toronto in June 2017 to attend “Is no local news bad news? Local journalism and its future,” a conference organized by the Ryerson Journalism Research Centre. In addition to its interactive, multimedia elements, what makes this publication unique is that it also incorporates the work of student journalists who were assigned to gather first-hand stories of local news organizations’ struggles and successes.
Clicking through this site, you will find videos, podcasts, interactive graphics, maps, and articles created by an interdisciplinary academic community that spans journalism studies, digital media and communication studies, geography, and digital humanities. The supplementary videos were created by a team of undergraduate and graduate students at the Ryerson University School of Journalism
Looking through the menu, you will see that we have divided the articles thematically into three main topics: News values, Challenges, and Technology. The News values theme explores why local news is important and shows the role that local news plays in communities around the world. The Challenges theme highlights the current challenges that local news outlets face in an era of digital disruption and market consolidation. Finally, Technology examines how we can address the problems of local news with new technological approaches, and also points to the limitations of doing so.
Many thanks to the countless students and staff from the Ryerson School of Journalism and the Ryerson Journalism Research Centre who contributed their time and work to this publication. This publication was designed and produced by Lindsay Hanna and our copy editor was Aliza Amlani. Informational graphics were re-created by Sally Goldberg Powell and Allison Ridgway. It was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Connection Grant Program and the Ryerson Journalism Research Centre. It was also generously supported by Ryerson University and its Faculty of Communication and Design.
If you have any questions or comments, or if you experience any trouble accessing this site or the content, we’d be happy to hear from you. You can email us at localnews@ryerson.ca.