Mid Sweden University

The notion of intervention is gaining traction among Western environmental journalists. While existing research has predominantly focused on countries outside the Nordic region, in our study we investigate the self-perceptions of professional journalists in the Nordic countries of Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Through semi-structured interviews, we examine the roles that Nordic journalists construct when reflecting on covering the environmental beat, paying particular attention to how they make sense of the idea of intervening - that is, their involvement in interpreting, making sense of, and engaging the public in environmental issues. Using thematic qualitative analysis to analyse the interviews, we have identified four journalistic roles: 1) objective news provider, 2) critical watchdog, 3) sense-maker and educator, and 4) environmental advocate. Our findings suggest that Nordic journalists intervene byadhering to professional norms and practices and renegotiating them. While the role of objective news provider remains prominent among Nordic journalists, it is intertwined with various forms of intervention across all identified roles.

Journalism is an important source of environmental information to the public as well as a central arena for public debate on environmental issues. The roles of environmental journalists, i.e. the roles they are expected to fill and the roles they perceive as important and possible, shape environmental reporting.  

Research on the roles of environmental journalists in the Nordic countries remains scarce so far. To produce novel insights into this topic, this paper examines what the perceived journalistic roles are for those who engage in the mediated knowledge production on environmental issues. 

The countries covered are Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland. The data gathered for the study consists of 20 semi-structured qualitative interviews with professional journalists, five from each country. 

Four journalistic roles were identified in the interviews through qualitative text analysis: (1) the role of the objective news provider, (2) the critical watchdog, (3) the sense-maker and educator, and (4) the environmental advocate. 

Within the role of the objective news provider, the importance of being neutral and balanced and accurately presenting scientific facts is being highlighted. In the role of the critical watchdog, the responsibility of journalists to be critical of those in power is represented as central. As for the role of the sense-maker and educator, journalists position themselves responsible for their audience, functioning as clarifying and sense-making mediators of environmental issues. Lastly, the role of an environmental advocate includes taking a stance for common good. 

The results of this study show that although these roles overlap and are interconnected – meaning the journalists methods and ethics remain the same for all roles – the perceptions of the aims of reporting differ. 

Aspects that set environmental journalism apart from other journalistic beats are the level of conflict in the issues, the complexity of climate change, and the scale and gravity of the issues. This do not only impact the environmental reporting, but also have consequences for how journalists perceive their role. It is of essence for the place of media and communication in today’s globalized society.

The question of the role of hyperlocal media is of great relevance in today’s hybrid media landscape, where traditional local media no longer is the obvious entrance to local information for all citizens. 

Mathisen and Morlandstø (2019) suggest that when blind spots are not covered by local media, they are neither likely brought onto the national mediated agenda, at least not from the periphery, rural or regional point of views. The shifting boundaries of journalism, including the decline and consolidation of local and regional media, is visible in most western countries, leaving gaps in geographic news coverage (Nielsen, 2015; Radcliffe, 2012, 2015). 

Closely linked to the digitalization process, however, there is an increasing occurrence of local independent news sites online (Nygren, Leckner, & Tenor, 2018). In Sweden, they are often situated in large towns, suburbs, and industrial municipalities (Jangdal, 2019; Nygren et al., 2018). 

Research has shown that young people interested in society take part of news media at a much higher level than those who value their public interest as low (Andersson, 2019). Media and journalism are thus vital mediators of local culture and identity in everyday life as well as in framing the past, present, and future of local societies (Lindén, 2017; Skogerbo & Winsvold, 2011).

In today’s digital world it is a challenge for media outlets to encompass both journalism professionalism and offer a sense of identity (Ugolini & Colantoni, 2017). Firmstone (2016) has noted that audiences for local news are larger than ever, but “the challenge of making content about civic issues interesting to them persists” (Firmstone, 2016, p. 936).

Through ecological metaphors such as ecosystems, food chains, diversity, and ecological niches, it is possible to analyze how the media system is changing (Anderson, 2016; Napoli, Stonbely, McCollough, & Renninger, 2017). 

Drawing on both qualitative and quantitative studies in Sweden, this paper makes a theoretical effort to advance our conceptions about hyperlocal media, their presence in the journalistic field and potential societal impact. This is carried out through four different perspectives according to a new ROLE-model taking into consideration (i) Relations, (ii) Orientation, (iii) Locality, and (iv) Ecology.

Early conclusions indicate that hyperlocal media (i) pursue a close and reciprocal relationship with their audiences, (ii) have a clear emphasis on local material but with a diversity of civic roles, (iii) permeate locality both from the perspectives of practitioners and audiences, and (iv) have a definite role in the media ecology providing news from a close range.

Local media are often credited with an integral role in the local community, tying individuals together in a shared identity or community, where local news can foster community engagement and audience participation, providing more agency in democratic processes (Lie, 2018b; Nelson & Kim, 2020; Wenzel, 2019).

This doctoral compilation thesis focuses on so-called “hyperlocal media”, which are typically citizen-led, participatory and largely independent (Turner, 2015), with content concentrated to a small geographically defined community (Radcliffe, 2012).

Earlier research about hyperlocals has mostly concentrated on presence and sustainability (Harte, Howells, & Williams, 2019), but the most relevant aspects today are not only where they exist or their financial issues. Instead, it is more interesting to analyse their democratic contributions and triangulate how they fit into today’s hybrid media system, where hyperlocal media is a comparatively new tributary in the so-called “media ecology”.

Herein, five adjacent studies aim to address areas that are less researched. Swedish hyperlocal media are studied from several vital democratic perspectives: geographic placement, media density, owner autonomy, audience interaction, source representation and civicinformation.

They are further analysed in the context of the main media functions as defined by a Swedish press inquiry (SOU 1995:37). The results combined clearly indicate that news from a close range has an important function in the media ecology, and that hyperlocal media can be significant to their audiences if they shoulder a gap not covered by other media providers.

Positioning the hyperlocals in today’s fragmented media landscape is an important contribution of this dissertation, shedding new light on autonomous news producers and their audience in the enormous competition between information providers, including traditional media such as newspapers, TV and radio with their digital platforms, international tech giants, social media, citizens distributing content and alternative media.

Lokala medier tillskrivs ofta en integrerande roll i det lokala samhället. De knyter samman individer i en delad identitet eller gemenskap, där lokala nyheter kan främja samhällsengagemang och publikdeltagande, vilket ger ökade möjligheter att påverka i demokratiska processer (Lie,2018b; Nelson & Kim, 2020; Wenzel, 2019).

Denna artikelbaserade doktorsavhandling fokuserar på så kallade ”hyperlokala medier” som vanligtvis är medborgarledda och till stor del oberoende (Turner, 2015), med ett innehåll inriktat på ett begränsat geografiskt område (Radcliffe, 2012).

Tidigare forskning om hyperlokala medier har mestadels fokuserat på närvaro och hållbarhet (Harte m.fl., 2019) men de mest relevanta aspekterna i dag är inte bara var de finns eller deras ekonomiska situation. I stället är det mer intressant att analysera deras demokratiska bidrag och triangulera hur de passar in i dagens hybrida mediesystem, där hyperlokala medier jämförelsevis är ny biflod i den så kallade ”medieekologin”.

Här syftar fem angränsande studier till att behandla områden som är mindre utforskade. Avhandlingen undersöker svenska hyperlokala medier ur flera viktiga demokratiska perspektiv: geografisk placering, mediatäthet, ägarautonomi, publikinteraktion, källrepresentation och medborgerlig information.

De analyseras i kontexten av mediernas huvudsakliga uppgifter, definierade av en svensk pressutredning (SOU 1995:37). Resultaten visar tydligt att nyheter från nära håll har en viktig funktion i medieekologin, och att hyperlokala medier kan vara angelägna för sin publik om de axlar en annan roll än andra medieleverantörer.

Att positionera hyperlokala medier i dagens fragmenterade medielandskap är ett viktigt bidrag i denna avhandling, inklusive att belysa autonoma nyhetsproducenter och deras publik i den enorma konkurrensen bland alla informationsleverantörer, inklusive traditionella medier som tidningar, tv och radio med deras digitala plattformar, internationella teknikjättar, sociala medier, medborgare som distribuerar innehåll och alternativa medier.

The role of hyperlocal media is of increasing relevance as traditional local journalism experiences a decline due to centralisation and consolidation. The affordances of internet and digital technologies also enable hyperlocal initiatives to enhance civic engagement in localities and serve as a place and resource for local deliberative processes. This study examines how the aims, perceptions and practices of hyperlocal media vary in three countries of the global North—Sweden, Finland and Russia—and what implications this has for connectedness and civic engagement in local public spheres. The context of different media systems and local political regimes help to explore possibilities and limitations of hyperlocals as agents of place-oriented civic engagement. The data includes interviews with practitioners and analysis of selected hyperlocal media. Our results indicate that hyperlocal media practitioners in all three countries aim to provide local people and communities with a voice, and to enhance resident engagement in local life. We reveal three civic roles of hyperlocal media: (i) information provider, (ii) community builder and (iii) civic mediator. Practices of civic engagement used by hyperlocal media range from relying on civic journalism to fostering civic debates, and can be classified in two main categories: (i) civic information and (ii) civic debate and interaction. The perceptions and practices of these hyperlocal media are, to some extent, similar because of comparable changes and challenges regarding the local media and public spheres. At the same time, the perceptions of civic roles vary, reflecting both the developments and differences in the countries’ media spheres and political regimes. This research raises a critical question about hyperlocal practitioners’ understanding of their own roles and aims, and in addition, how differences in media cultures and local regimes affect their performance as agents of local public spheres. 

This study examines the democratic contribution of hyperlocal media in Sweden in an electoral context. A quantitative content analysis of digital news material is used to examine which topics are prioritised, and which actors get to participate in the local public sphere. Political content is further studied to learn whether it varies between a normal news week and a week during the election campaign. The analysis also examines whether there is a relationship between media density and editorial focus. The results indicate that this segment of hyperlocals—online and independent of legacy media—fills an important function on several democratic levels, including an increased level of editorial coverage of political topics towards an election, a wider distribution of sources and the facilitation of forums for debate. 

This study examines what news consumers in Sweden identify as important for local journalism, and how they regard the role of ‘hyperlocals’ in relation to other media. Results reveal that respondents are partial to locally-anchored editorial newsrooms, covet high standards when it comes to ethics, and call for coverage that is representative of the area – in particular, positive news. The conclusions strengthen earlier research that journalistic start-ups often pursue a closer and more reciprocal relationship with their audience, but also point to how hyperlocal media can be a natural part of the local media ecology. This adds new relevant information to the field of hyperlocal research, where the knowledge about the media-consumer perspective is limited.

The role of hyperlocal media is of increasing relevance as traditional local journalism experiences a decline due to centralisationand consolidation. The affordances of Internet and digital technologies also enable hyperlocal initiatives to enhancecivic engagement in localities and serve as a place and resource for local deliberative processes. This study examines howthe aims, perceptions and practices of hyperlocal media vary in three countries of the Global North—Sweden, Finland andRussia—and what implications this has for connectedness and civic engagement in local public spheres. The context ofdifferent media systems and local political regimes help to explore possibilities and limitations of hyperlocals as agentsof place‐oriented civic engagement. The data includes interviews with practitioners and analysis of selected hyperlocalmedia. Our results indicate that hyperlocal media practitioners in all three countries aim to provide local people and communitieswith a voice, and to enhance resident engagement in local life. We reveal three civic roles of hyperlocal media:(i) information provider, (ii) community builder, and (iii) civic mediator. Practices of civic engagement used by hyperlocalmedia range from relying on civic journalism to fostering civic debates and can be classified in two main categories: civicinformation and civic debate and interaction. The perceptions and practices of these hyperlocal media are, to some extent,similar because of comparable changes and challenges regarding the local media and public spheres. At the same time,the perceptions of civic roles vary, reflecting both the developments and differences in the countries’ media spheres andpolitical regimes. This research raises a critical question about hyperlocal practitioners’ understanding of their own rolesand aims, and in addition, how differences in media cultures and local regimes affect their performance as agents of localpublic spheres.