Introduction: Perspectives on the local newspaper

The established business model of the local newspaper uses the editorial focus on a circulation area to reinforce a sense of market identity which constitutes readers as an audience for advertisers. The role of the local newspaper in communicating information is the one most strongly associated with political and civic processes at a sub-national level. Taking account of the variables, our understanding of the local newspaper is largely organised around three primary roles-each of which is shaped by the particular context it inhabits. These are, firstly, as a purveyor of information; secondly, as a commercial market product designed to generate revenue; and thirdly, as a social facilitator in relation to community building. In the future, a more fundamental shift in the value placed on the social role of the local newspaper may well be necessary to ensure its continued global survival.