Hyperlocal journalism: ‘Brings the neighbourhood together’
Neighbourhood newspapers, newsletters and Facebook groups: Leiden residents have dozens of ways to keep each other informed about news in their neighbourhood. Students from the pre-master's programme in Journalism and New Media mapped out all these different media and asked themselves: what is the future of this hyperlocal journalism?
Julie Koopmans and Justus Visser are two of the seven pre-master's students who participated in the research, which was set up by Professor Jaap de Jong. ‘Jaap had already done research on local media at the city level, but he discovered that there is also a lot going on at the neighbourhood level,’ says Justus. 'However, there was no clear picture yet of which hyperlocal media outlets there are in Leiden. That's why he thought it would be fun and useful to work with us to find out exactly which media outlets there are and what their status is.'
Between February and July, the seven pre-master's students each combed through neighbourhood newspapers and newsletters for one district. 'We quickly involved the municipality in the research,’ says Julie. ‘We talked to a councillor and a number of communication professionals at the town hall. They were very enthusiastic: it turned out that there were a lot more of these hyperlocal media outlets than they had thought.’
Neighbourhood feeling
Some of the newsletters are circulated to 170 people, while other neighbourhood newspapers have a circulation of 4,000. ‘In all cases, they play an important role within their neighbourhood,’ says Julie. Justus adds: 'They ensure that neighbourhood residents are informed, but sharing information about events, for example, also brings residents together and creates a sense of community.'
Professionalisation
The hyperlocal media are produced by volunteers. ‘Almost all of them said they didn't consider themselves real journalists,’ says Justus. ‘Even so, their working methods are sometimes quite journalistic. There are quite a lot of editors, who make the copy more readable, check whether the stories they receive are accurate, and in some cases they even have editorial statutes.’
Julie: ‘I think they sometimes underestimate themselves and that they are actually more journalistic than they realise. At the same time, you notice that there could be more professionalism in some areas.’
This is one of the reasons why Justus, Julie and their fellow students presented their findings to the responsible councillor, municipal communications officers, neighbourhood coordinators and the volunteers from the newspapers. 'Afterwards, we had a discussion where the neighbourhood media started sharing tips with each other,’ says Justus. 'I really enjoyed that, also because the municipality wants to do this again next year. It's great to see that we've been able to achieve something for the city with such a short study.’