Importance of Community Journalism

While it seems that in the world of journalism, the only news outlets that matter are CNN or Fox News which are the major media organizations. But the truth of it all, is these major organizations cannot cover everything. In fact, it is often the local news that they struggle to cover.

This is where community journalism has such an important role in informing the public on what is going on in their communities. Community journalism has been around for many years and it could be considered the backbone of journalism.

Community journalism can be defined in a lot of different ways, but it always seems to include a physical location, in addition to a communal feeling. In the article, “Community Journalism Midst Media Revolution” by Sue Robinson, while community journalism has an emphasis on geography, it also focuses on human connectivity. It is based on these connections, where “journalists can nurture and expand what it means to belong to a home.”

Robinson further proves that local news ultimately has more meaning for its audience. In fact, it is where they reside, so it carries more weight. It is like if something is happening half-way around the world, it does not phase you very much because it is not something that you see every day or can relate to.

Local news is something we all can relate to because we live in the specific location and we know what goes on daily. That is why there is a different approach to local news versus how a major news organization would report on something.

In the book, “Community Journalism: Relentlessly Local,” the author Jock Lauterer gives the example that when someone in the community gets arrested or caught doing something bad, the large metro papers report with a sense of glee that the suspect was caught, but when the local news reports on it there is a sense of sadness, because people in the community would have known the suspect. It is almost as if there is a more personal touch in the local news because the news is not detached, rather it hits right at home.

In fact, there is a quote in the Lauterer’s book from Dave Marcus that says, “The big difference between big-city journalism and community journalism is that the big city newspapers don’t have a chance to see each reader as an individual. They see demographic groups. But in a community, we get to see individual people with individual problems, problems with the neighborhood. And we get to help them.”

Big cities cannot be as personal, because there just are too many people. This relationship kind of reminds me of city life, versus life in the country. They are two different mindsets as life in the city is less personal. People do not wave at others on the street because that is not the mindset, whereas in a small town, people know everyone and seem to be more friendly.

In that regard, community journalism has a big and important job to do because of the impact it has on its audience. In an article titled, “Community Journalism and Civic Engagement in Mediated Sports,” the authors said, “few things can ignite, divide, excite or unite a community more than the issues surrounding church, school and local sports.”

That means as a community journalist you need to know what the community likes and dislikes. You cannot be detached because you will not know what to cover that would affect the community and interest that group of people.

In fact, Lauterer says that the first law of community journalism is that there is a fundamental and reciprocal relationship between the paper and its town, further that the newspaper’s history is inextricably bound up with the history and future of its community.

This means it is important for journalists that report on local news to be involved in the community. They need to be going to community events and letting their face be known.

Lauterer writes a lot about this in his book. He says to think of your readers as a good neighbor or a best friend who are people you would never want to deceive. Once a community sees the commitment and involvement, they will be more likely to include them into their circle and become a good resource for the journalist.

This concept is further developed in an Edmond Life and Leisure column by Joe Foote. Foote talks about attending a local news anchor’s funeral and how impressed he was with the anchor’s presence in the community. He said that “Larry Wade’s funeral was an empowering silent tribute to the seamless integration of journalism with civil society in America.”

Foote went on to discuss how in Oklahoma specifically the local newspapers work hard to become embedded in their community for the long term. In community journalism, you have to care about your audience, because it is quite difficult to fake that feeling and to produce good quality work.

For me personally, it may be difficult for me to care about each and every story that I do. Which brings up the point that when getting a local news job, I need to be careful about the location that I pick to work in. The reason I say this is because I need to know about the specific community and be able to report on what matters to that group of people.

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