"Local journalism is the future" by Vera Alves

transcrevo aqui o texto de uma amiga, jornalista e blogger, companheira de estágio na lusa, também ela viajante e dona de um sentido de humor mt castiço.

"i always thought that internet and globalisation will eventually empower local media. it’s easy to get the latest about the major events on the other side of the world but the easiest it is to access that information, the bigger it is the need for people to get information about their own community (and this doesn’t only apply to a certain geographic area, but rather to any group that shares a certain set of rules or values - and that kind of specialisation is where bigger media, like national newspapers, have a problem).

focusing on the geographic sense of the word ‘community’, i believe that local/regional/suburban newspaper are the ones that will survive for longer. because those local news can’t be find online - at least not yet. but even those newspapers understand the importance of taking the step into online media.

a good example is the newspaper i worked for in portugal before coming to nz: it’s a weekly regional newspaper that’s putting a lot of effort into its online content - the website is updated three times a day and all journalists (and we all know how small newsrooms are in regional newspapers) must contribute daily for the website. also, about a year ago, the newspaper decided to go one step further and start its own online television (without increasing the number of journalists, i must say). so far, it’s been quite successful and it’s fair to say that the online tv was a good move and should set an example for other local media - if you want to survive, you better embrace web 2.0.

the closeness to the community is another advantage that local newspapers have over national and international media. not only do they talk about the issues that matter to people but their offices are generally closer to the readers. and this isn’t just a minor detail. it wasn’t rare for me to have a reader coming in the newsroom just to say hello or give his 2 cents about an article - that relationship between the news producer and the news consumer is vital. the consumer (feels more like he) is a part of the proccess. that can be compared to what makes social media networks so successful - interaction - and that explains why newspapers’ websites have started allowing comments like bloggers were already doing - they realised that the readers didn’t want to be at the end of the chain and just receive the message in a passive way - they wanted to see their opinions taken into consideration.

what got me back to this subject was reading about the huffington post taking on local newspapers. that’s another very smart move and i have no doubts that it will be successful."

mais coisas muito giras e fofas de ser lerem aqui