Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Small Town Coverage

It was very interesting to hear the perspective of a small town newspaper contributor in the 11/18 lecture. I think the public involvement and feedback related to coverage in their local papers is much more intense than response to say coverage in the Boston Globe. Somehow, the editorial teams seem more accessible to the lay person. Would you agree that this is the perception?

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3 comments:

Alex.S said...

It is not only the lecture. With a background in PR, I agree community/smaller newspapers are much more involved with their audience and have a much more comprehensive understanding because they are targeting a narrower audience. The editorial teams are accessible since they are usually well known within their community. Smaller newspapers editorial teams, are not as busy as the editorial teams at the New York Times, Boston Globe, Toronto Star, etc because they communicate with millions of readers on both national and international issues. Don't you think, it would be impossible to connect on a personal level? Or provide a meaningful response to coverage?

jkl said...

Yes, it's sort of unavoidable in a smaller, niche paper particularly when you know everyone you are reporting on! It seems the some of the larger papers are doing their best to gain feedback from their audiences via blog, email, etc, but it simply can't match up to a small town paper because of sheer volume of information and readers.

Chanda said...

In addition to the previous comments, I think that residents of small towns have more of a vested interest in local news coverage. Reading the papers in bigger cities can sometimes seem like the stories are somewhat removed from our personal lives. However, in a small town, the affect is magnified. It becomes much more important to be aware and involved in accurate news coverage.