Experiencing local news online: audience practices and perceptions

Journal article

Gulyas, A., O'Hara, S. and Eilenberg, J. 2018. Experiencing local news online: audience practices and perceptions. Journalism Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2018.1539345
AuthorsGulyas, A., O'Hara, S. and Eilenberg, J.
Abstract

This article explores how audiences experience local news online. It discusses the findings of an empirical study that examined why audiences consumed local news online, what sources they were most likely to access, how important distributing platforms were in local news use, and what users understood by local news.

The research had a qualitative design applying diaries as its main method collecting data in the South-East of England in 2016 and 2017. The findings suggest that there is no shared understanding among audience members about what local news is in the digital environment.

The study identified three predominant ways in which participants understood local news: as personally relevant or interesting information, as content produced by legacy local media brands, and as community engagement. The study also found that each of the different understandings of local news was linked to particular online news consumption and engagement patterns.

The paper argues that audience perceptions of news should be studied alongside motivations for and practices of news engagement and consumption in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of audiences and news in the digital age.

KeywordsAudience research; diary method; local news use; news audience fragmentation; news engagement; online news; consumption; perceptions of local news
Year2018
JournalJournalism Studies
PublisherTaylor & Francis
ISSN1461-670X
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2018.1539345
Publication dates
Online26 Oct 2018
Publication process dates
Deposited23 Oct 2018
Accepted14 Sep 2018
Accepted author manuscript
Output statusPublished
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https://repository.canterbury.ac.uk/item/88x51/experiencing-local-news-online-audience-practices-and-perceptions

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