Local news and the media

Mainly because local news is the only kind you can actually act on. If I read that a bridge on my route to work will be closed for repairs, I change my plans that same evening, whereas a summit on another continent, however important, asks nothing of me. There's also the simple pleasure of recognition: people enjoy a story more when they know the street or even the family involved. Social media has changed this enormously, and I'd say speed is the main gain. Most districts now have a community group where a power cut or a lost dog is reported within minutes, long before any reporter could arrive. The downside is that nobody checks anything. I remember a rumour about child kidnappers spreading through such groups in my hometown, and by the time the police denied it, parents had already been keeping their children home for days. So we are better informed about trivial things and sometimes worse informed about serious ones. As for local newspapers, I doubt the printed version has much of a future, since advertisers have already moved online and younger readers won't pay for paper. That said, I don't think the job itself will disappear. Somebody still has to sit through council meetings and read the budget, because residents posting on their phones never will. My guess is that local journalism will survive as small, subscription-based websites, with fewer reporters but a more loyal readership.