local journalism: an underrated task

Which news are read the most? Without any doubt, those are the ones that are related to deaths, tragic events, money or gossip. But do that news affect us as citizens? A big amount of them are pure entertainment. We’ll read them, we’ll share them and comment on them with our friends, and in a few weeks we’ll forget them, with no repercussion in our lives.

That’s not a case of local journalism, which would be to readers what local clinics mean to health: the first window for the inhabitants of a town or a city. Local media try to communicate everything that happens in this little area, without thinking about the number of views that news can reach.

Some friends have asked me why I don’t try to work in autonomic or state media, downplaying the local ones and obviating that sometimes after many of the bigger there are economic or political interests. Then, who is going to explain what happens in our villages? Although it’s underrated, local journalism is an essential job considering the high level of misinformation that exists on social media, pubs, and streets.

Local journalism is useful and gratifying. You know that what you communicate has happened near you and that your piece of information will reach readers without the distortions that could appear in generalist press. It’s real journalism and not just entertainment. Maybe we won’t appear on TV and our names won’t be popular outside our towns... But who cares?

Jose Luis Cano

Local journalism is essential for citizens in order to know everything about the day to day of their villages