Local News: Thriving or Surviving


This week, I had the opportunity to read over an article that discussed local media and how it is beginning to die off. So many large news companies, like New York Times for example, are being used digitally and physically that not as many people are going to their local news to see what is going on within the world. If there is nothing interesting going on locally, then there is less of a chance that someone will look to them for information. The article talks about how local media needs to change to adapt to the digital and electronic world we live in. They need to have websites, radio broadcasts, television channels, and so on.

We certainly need local media to stick around. Local media gives us so many unique stories and news that a larger company dishing out news can’t. Local news covers things like weather, local crime, local bills and laws, things happening in the local school districts, job postings, real estate, and more. There can even be national news in a local paper, such as sports or national laws and or bills that are being passed. A big news company is not going to tell you what the weather is going to be like three days from now in Ada, Ohio or which high school football team won on Friday night in Bellefontaine, Ohio. These things come from our local sources and it would be a crime to lose those, I personally believe.

From a public relations standpoint, everyone needs local news. It helps build and maintain a community. There can be a story that is covered locally that could be ongoing, so it can be brought up again and again to keep the people of the community informed and intrigued. If it is big enough, it could national, but at a national level, you will not get as much coverage or information as you get from a local point of view. Everyone will get to know each other better and get to know the community in which they live. It will give everyone something to talk about that everyone will know what is going on. It helps give everyone a sense of home. Not everyone stays in the same town in which they grew up. Some people move away, and local news is nice if they want to see what is happening in their hometowns.

I believe that local news is essential to a community and their identity. Local news keeps everything and everyone tied together for a good reason. I do think that local media should step it up to more than just newspapers, and I think a lot of them are. Everyone is attached to their electronic devices these days, so it would be foolish to not give them access to local news online. Local news will survive without a doubt.


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