Local Media Survival Guide
The local news media sector is emerging as the key challenge for a sustainable global news and information system, International Press Institute (IPI) writes in its “Local Media Survival Guide”. “It’s particularly urgent to meet the challenge in emerging and developing democracies and economies across the regions under review: Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe.
Among practical actions, the report suggests creation of a global network for local news media and a fund with external funding to support local media in need of training and innovation.
The report also stresses the need for local media to have links with fact- checking organisations to build capacity to fight misinformation.
“Local communities often lack the resources to support their own local media. Information pollution has generated distrust of all journalism. There’s a growing authoritarianism bringing deliberate strategies of media capture. And in some countries, digital opportunities are constrained by potential readers’ lack of access to mobile data or stable web connectivity.”
“Media capture and other forms of repression by authoritarian regimes pose an increasing challenge to local news media that are perceived as a threat due either to their accountability journalism or simply to their providing an autonomous voice. Pressure can come through blocking advertising revenues from state or oligarchic-owned corporations and pressuring other businesses to do the same; through legal actions such as defamation or tax audits; or through targeted attacks on media institutions and independent journalists.”
The report says five actions are needed:
- Embed a vision and sense of mission that matches audience/community needs with an appropriate journalism focus;
- Level up access to the information, training, network support, and funding essential to building sustainable local media;
- Create a global network that prepares local news media to take on the challenges; that allows them to share, understand, and learn from one another’s steps and stumbles; and that gives them access to expertise, mentoring, and community support;
- Ensure that donors and the media support community (particularly in developing countries and regions) understand that the future is local; and
- Leverage the relationship of local trust to rebuild confidence in news media and lead the fight against misinformation and disinformation.
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