News Science

News Science

The Importance of Local Media in the Digital Age with Emphasis on Legal Measures of the Council of Europe

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Elnaz Paknia 1
Roya Motamed Nejad 2
1 1. Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Social Communication Sciences, Soureh University, Tehran, Iran.E-mail: pakniaelnz@gmail.com
2 2. Corresponding author Associate Professor, the Public and International Law, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran. E-mail: motamednejad@atu.ac.ir
10.22034/lrsi.2025.475996.1239
Abstract
Objective: The digital revolution and the advancement of new information and communication technologies have precipitated profound structural transformations in societies, enhancing the quality of life and reinforcing individual rights and freedoms. Concurrently, however, unprecedented risks have emerged that seriously threaten certain rights and freedoms of individuals. As a result of significant shifts in political, economic, and media landscapes, alongside evolving audience behaviors, local and regional media have encountered considerable difficulties in sustaining their operations. Nevertheless, in recent years, renewed attention has been directed toward the role and significance of local and regional media. It appears that three primary challenges are currently under consideration: precarious working conditions, the safety of local and regional journalists, and limited resources for improving journalistic skills and training - particularly in the realm of digital innovations relevant to local and regional journalism.
Method: The Council of Europe recently addressed the importance and status of local and regional media in its 2022 report. In light of the current situation and developments in the digital age concerning the proliferation of diverse media platforms, this article examines international experiences with the aim of identifying policies and policy-making practices in the field of local media, as reflected in the recommendations and reports of the Council of Europe. For this study, the Council of Europe website was selected as the data source using purposive sampling, and relevant documents were retrieved through the website's search engine.
Results: The findings of this study indicate that achieving a thriving local and regional media environment necessitates joint and coordinated efforts across different levels of government and among various stakeholders. Governments are expected to adopt comprehensive policies to ensure that local and regional media fulfill their important political and social roles while simultaneously strengthening the quality of local journalism. The report further demonstrates that local and regional media are more vulnerable than national media in terms of financial resources and professional skills.
Conclusions: Based on this research, governments should facilitate joint initiatives that address existing challenges or promote innovation in local and regional media. Such initiatives may include the provision of financial assistance, tax incentives, stakeholder participation, knowledge exchange and capacity building, and the establishment of networking and partnership platforms. Engaging a diverse array of stakeholders - including professional bodies, local authorities, universities, and schools - is essential to the development of local media. Subsidies play a crucial role in fostering a diverse media landscape that meets the information needs of communities. Furthermore, the following are among the key recommendations to governments for supporting local media: supporting investigative journalism; developing viable business models for transnational journalism and freelance journalists; facilitating the transition of print publications to the digital environment; establishing a digital presence for smaller players, particularly local media; enhancing journalism skills and training, as well as media literacy programs for newsrooms; strengthening journalistic ethics and principles; developing business skills appropriate to the digital economy - including audience measurement and analysis capabilities - and supporting the development of new technologies for newsrooms.
Keywords
Local Media
Freedom of Speech
Council of Europe
Freedom of the Press
Digital Age
 
References
Abernathy, P. M. (2020). The expanding news desert. Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Assmann, K. (2023). Rise of the zombie papers: Infecting Germany's local and regional public media ecosystem. Media and Communication, 11(3).
Baekgaard, M., Jensen, C. P. B., Mortensen, P. B., & Serritzlew, S. (2014). Local news media and voter turnout. Local Government Studies, 40(4), 518–553.
Barclay, S., Barnett, S., Moore, M., & Townend, J. (2022). Local news deserts in the UK: What effect is the decline in provision of local news and information having on communities. The Charitable Journalism Project.
Centro Europa 7 U.R.L. and Di Stefano v. Italy* [GC], application no. 38433/09, judgment of 7 June 2012.
Chapman, M., & Oermann, M. (2020). Supporting quality journalism through media and information literacy*. Council of Europe.
Committee of Ministers. (2014, April 30). Declaration on the protection of journalism and safety of journalists and other media actors. Council of Europe.
Committee of Ministers. (2016, April 13). Recommendation CM/Rec (2016)4 on the protection of journalism and safety of journalists and other media actors. Council of Europe.
Committee of Ministers. (2018, March 7). Recommendation CM/Rec (2018)1 on media pluralism and transparency of media ownership. Council of Europe.
Council of Europe. (2023). Local and regional media: Watchdogs of democracy, guardians of community cohesion. https://rm.coe.int/local-and-regional-media-watchdogs-of-democracy-guardians-of-community/1680accd26
Dink v. Turkey, applications nos. 2668/07 and 4 others, judgment of 14 September 2010.
Ess, K., & Waller, L. (2016). Local journalism in a digital world: Theory and practice in the digital age. Palgrave Macmillan.
Fidalgo, J. (2021). Portugal: Impoverished media struggling for survival. In J. Trappel & T. Tomaz (Eds.), The Media for Democracy Monitor 2021: How leading news media survive digital transformation (Vol. 1, pp. 297–352). Nordicom, University of Gothenburg.
Gulyas, A. (2021). Local news deserts. In *Reappraising local and community news in the UK: Media, practice and policy. Routledge.
Gulyas, A., O'Hara, S., & Eilenberg, J. (2019). Experiencing local news online: Audience practices and perceptions. Journalism Studies, 20(13), 1846–1863.
Harte, D., Howells, R., & Williams, A. (2018). Hyperlocal journalism: The decline of local newspapers and the rise of online community news. Routledge.
Kiriya, I. (2020). Central and local media in Russia: Between central control and local initiatives. In The Routledge companion to local media and journalism. Routledge.
Manole and Others v. Moldova, application no. 13936/02, judgment of 17 September 2009.
Motamednejad, R. (2004). The European Court of Human Rights and the protection of press freedom. In Proceedings of the Third Seminar on Press Issues in Iran. Tehran: Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. (in Persian)
Motamednejad, R. (2011). The role of regional and international organizations in advancing global communication rights. Journal of Legal Research, (35). (in Persian)
Motamednejad, R. (2017). Legislation in the digital sphere and sustainable development programs (with emphasis on the digital republic). Quarterly Journal of the Iranian Association for Cultural and Communication Studies, 5(1). (in Persian)
Motamednejad, R. (2018). The necessity of ensuring media pluralism in the digital age and the positive duties of governments in this area. Quarterly Journal of News Sciences, 12(4). (in Persian)
Motamednejad, R. (2020). Artificial intelligence and the necessity of regulating it: The first measures of the international community. Bi-Quarterly Journal of Journalism and Communication Law, 4(4). (In Persian)
Motamednejad, R. (2022). Human rights challenges in the digital age and confronting them (with emphasis on the digital divide and the dissemination of illegal online content). Journal of Journalism and Communication Law, 1(4). (in Persian)
Mousavi, M., & Hajizadeh Meymandi, M. (2019). Examining the attitudes of officials and publishers toward the harms of local press in Yazd province. Quarterly Journal of Culture and Society, Yazd Culture, 1(1), 9–27. (In Persian)
Napoli, P. M., Weber, M., McCollough, K., & Wang, Q. (2018). Assessing local journalism. New Measures Research Project.
Nemati Anarki, D., Masoudi, O. A., & Jafari, S. T. (2022). A model for content quality management in Iranian local newspapers. Quarterly Journal of Cultural-Communication Studies, 23(60), 125–148. (In Persian)
Newman, N., Fletcher, R., Eddy, K., Robertson, C. T., & Nielsen, R. K. (2023). Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2023. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford.
Nielsen, R. N. (2015). Local journalism: The decline of newspapers and the rise of digital media*. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.
Parker, J. (2023). Regional media and non-statewide party voting in Europe. *Regional & Federal Studies*. https://doi.org/10.1080/13597566.2023.2189240
Peissl, H., Purkarthofer, J., Bellardi, N., & Scifo, S. (2022). Community media contributions to citizens' participation. Council of Europe.
Soltanifar, M. (2013). New media and the application of the "empowerment" model of development communication in line with the 1404 Vision Document. Quarterly Journal of Media. (In Persian)
Taghipour, F., & Babarabi, M. (2017). A qualitative study of local press harms in Isfahan from the perspective of experienced activists in 2016. Quarterly Journal of Media. (in Persian)
Usher, N. (2015, August 7). Does New Jersey have a "media desert" problem? Columbia Journalism Review.
Voko, K., & Likmeta, B. (2022). Monitoring media pluralism in the digital era: Application of the Media Pluralism Monitor in the European Union, Albania, Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey in the year 2021. Country report: Albania. Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom.