Local Media Ecologies

Abstract

Legacy media and social media are intertwined in a complicated relationship in local media ecologies. The recent national Swedish SOM survey on media use shows that people use Facebook more than local newspapers (both paper and online) to stay up to date with local events. In contrast, though, users still regard legacy media like subscription newspapers and the regional public service as more important sources than social media. Local newspapers are experiencing a decline in their number of users, but new hyperlocals are showing more stable numbers. Nevertheless, newspapers produce most of the original news reporting, and the public service and hyperlocals have more complementary positions in local media ecologies. They are all meeting the audience in the expanding public sphere of Facebook.

Keywords

• media ecology
• local journalism
• social media
• facebook
• local media use