Local Press in a Small Community—A Case Study of Relationships Between a Local Weekly and Different Local Actors

Abstract

What are the issues and problems to consider when discussing local (community) media? What are the challenges that local media are facing nowadays? Are phenomena such as: civic journalism, niche journalism, alternative journalism, or the combination of professional and civic journalism, opportunities for further development of local media or are they a threat to the professionalization of local media? In my paper, I discuss these issues within the context of culture—exploring local media situations in a variety of countries (e.g., Poland, UK, USA, Germany). However, the primary focus is on local media in Poland, and I examine what the biggest challenges are and whether current processes in journalism and media influence local media, and if so, to what extent. On the basis of my own qualitative research (case studies), I show how complex the local relations are and the level of involvement of local journalists and local media owners in these networks of relations. This complexity of relations (media-politics, media-business, media-church, media-media, etc.) might often be a cause of conflicts of interest (individual or institutional) or media bias.