Assessing the contribution of local journalism: the local newspaper as accidental social infrastructure

The value of local journalism is a pressing question for society because of the challenge posed to established business models by digital platforms. However, while local journalism is understood to be of benefit to people, discussion of the nature of those benefits and the ways in which they are accrued is dominated by a comparatively narrow focus on its outputs. Using the case of the legacy commercial local newspaper, this paper argues that local journalism as a process, practice and presence can be considered part of the accidental social infrastructure—part of the fabric which underpins strong communities, even if its intended purpose is something else. Data drawn from interviews with people working with local newspaper archives demonstrates how local journalism facilitates the development of social capital and processes of sociality. It demonstrates an expanded conceptual lens to articulate its benefits.