Local Journalism and Social Journalism - Isomorphism and Proximity

Abstract

The researchers have shown that local publications share common values, such as the desire not only to produce local news but also to be active members of their community, to give voice to those who cannot be heard otherwise, to assume a role in preserving democracy, building bridges between cultural differences. Moreover, local media challenges are: neighborhood, content built on solutions, not on conflict, difficulty in selling space / advertising time. In this context, Jankowski admits four major themes that circumscribe the local press: democratic processes, cultural identity, the concept of community (local), and the prospect to communicate. Social journalism is an umbrella concept that covers the types of journalistic material that do not fall into the classical fields (politics, economy, health, education) or denotes charity or cause journalism. In our study we aim to analyze the way in which local journalism is a form of social journalism, rather than generalist journalism.