IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/meanco/v11y2023i3p381-389.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Backed Into a Corner: Structural Changes That Lead to Local News Deserts

Author

Listed:
  • Lenka Waschková Císařová

    (Department of Media Studies and Journalism, Masaryk University, Czech Republic)

Abstract

On the surface, it may look like there are no news deserts in the Czech Republic, but that does not mean that all audiences are able to get relevant local news. Apart from independent local news outlets, which are diminishing, Czech districts are served by information provided either by a delocalised publishing chain or a municipality press that promotes the local government. I will focus on the emergence of news deserts from the perspective of independent local newspapers, especially on the structural changes that lead to the declining number of media outlets that offer local news in Czechia. Moreover, I take the bottom-up approach to reflect on the local journalists’ point of view. The mixed-method research, which was conducted in 2019 and 2020, consisted of a survey of local newspaper owners and in-depth interviews with local journalists. I identified several structural changes to both the local newspapers and to the general publishing industry that have led to growing organisational and economic problems for the local newspapers, and often to their demise. Local news is still carried by newspapers, which depend on the traditional business model and are slow with their digital transition. Their survival is based on (non)cooperation with either ancillary organisations (printing office, distribution firm, and sales outlet) or other local newspapers. Newspapers are cornered by the demands of external actors; their economic stability depends on the self-sufficiency of their production.

Suggested Citation

  • Lenka Waschková Císařová, 2023. "Backed Into a Corner: Structural Changes That Lead to Local News Deserts," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(3), pages 381-389.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v11:y:2023:i:3:p:381-389
    DOI: 10.17645/mac.v11i3.6731
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/6731
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/mac.v11i3.6731?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v11:y:2023:i:3:p:381-389. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.