Bargaining with local journalism's value

Local journalism’s role in generating sense of community, place-based belonging and social connection is a well-established phenomenon. From the Chicago School’s community integration research from the early 20th century (think Dewey, Mead, Park and Janowitz) to Stamm’s community ties thesis (1988) and the subsequent social capital and civic culture movementsi the deep affinity between local news and the social world is well documented. In more recent years, intense industry and policy focus has attracted a flurry of scholarly interest in local journalism’s future. While this brings fresh perspectives to the research catchment, it is important scholars do more than push the sand around by simply verifying the community ties thesis. From our perspective, a most pressing question is: How do notions of ‘community’ and social connection create advantages (and inequalities) for the sustainability of local journalism in the digital environment?