Unraveling the discourses of hyperlocal journalism

Harte, David (2023) Unraveling the discourses of hyperlocal journalism. In: Local Journalism: Critical Perspectives on the Provincial Newspaper. Taylor & Francis, pp. 32-45. ISBN 9781138366336

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Abstract

This chapter sets out how the debate on the value of hyperlocal journalism in the UK has drawn on a series of overlapping discourses to explain the value of these emergent online local journalism initiatives and to foster their further development. If the potential for developed citizen participation was a key aspect of hyperlocal journalism, then so too was the sense that what was emerging was a renaissance in the radical alternative local press; or the development of alternative local information ecologies. An alternative theoretical lens examines the social relations developed as a result of the specific practices of the hyperlocal journalist, shedding light on the ways in which ‘social capital’ is accrued, something seen as crucial ‘for the vitality of communities of all kinds’. Hyperlocal journalism within this discourse seems to have an authentic desire to champion place and develop social bonds between citizens and, hyperlocal is more a subcultural practice than it is a journalistic one.

Item Type:	Book Section
Dates:	Date Event 13 July 2023 Published
Subjects:	CAH24 - media, journalism and communications > CAH24-01 - media, journalism and communications > CAH24-01-05 - media studies
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts, Design and Media > Birmingham School of Media
Depositing User:	Gemma Tonks
Date Deposited:	14 Nov 2023 15:04
Last Modified:	14 Nov 2023 15:04
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/14940

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