Local Journalism in Germany.Requirements, Quality and Determining Factors of Local Print and Online Media.

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Hans-Jürgen Bucher, since 8/2017
• Subject Area: Communication Sciences
• Term: from 2014 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 248477685

The aim of this project is to provide, for the first time, a comprehensive and close to representative survey of German local journalism and its quality in both print and online media, its two most relevant platforms. The main research questions of the planned project are: - How does local journalism in both print and online media perform in terms of quality? To what extend can local journalism meet varying functional, normative and audience oriented quality demands? - Are the typical deficits and shortcomings associated with local journalism in past studies still relevant? Did local journalism change in terms of quality?- Are there differences in quality between the print editions and the websites of local newspapers?- Are new alternative local news websites serious competitors for traditional newspapers?- Can we identify significant factors like contexts and circumstances that influence the quality of local news media? For example, how relevant to the quality of a news medium are factors like the size of the community, the size of the media company, the organization of the editorial workflow, manpower, local competition, etc.?To answer these questions, the concept for quality in journalism developed by the applicant in a prior DFG-funded project will be applied, tested, and adapted to the characteristics of local journalism in both print and online media. The quality criteria developed on this basis will be operationalized in two comprehensive content analyses, concerning ... 1) ... local newspapers and their corresponding websites (systematic sample, representative for German local newspapers),2) ... local news websites of traditional papers and their new alternative local competitors on the internet (intentional sample).An online survey with the responsible editors of the sampled media will complement the analyses. In addition to new scientific insights the findings of this project can be relevant in both a sociopolitical and an economic context: Since the local level plays an important role for citizen participation, it is crucial for our society that necessary information about local affairs and platforms for public discussions are provided. We can also expect insights with regard to practical, economic questions, for example whether better equipped newsrooms (with more financial and human resources) produce a higher level of journalistic quality. In other words: Does it pay for media companies to invest in their newsrooms?

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Ehemaliger Antragsteller: Professor Dr. Klaus Arnold, until 8/2017 (†)