“Unique local content” is by now a familiar phrase as print competes with digital media for readers’ attention. With constantly updated international and national news reporting and commentary just a click away, hometown readers need different reasons to go to their local newspaper, in print or online. In this issue of Nieman Reports, we will explore what local news reporting can look like and what a hometown focus can mean for journalists, newspapers, Web sites, and those who consume this news and information. – Melissa Ludtke, Editor Read more
For those seeking to venture into the hyperlocal sphere—whether affiliated with a news organization or not—we’ve developed tips through observation and study. —J.S. 1. Get ready for a high-touch experience: Citizen journalists won’t join the effort unless cajoled, recruited, trained, … Read more
A street sign bearing his name stands near the pavement where he was slain, a monument to the seven-year-old boy who started a revolution in our newsroom. On the morning of October 13, 1992, Dantrell Davis was holding his mother’s … Read more
One of the first books I read when I was getting to know Chicago was Alex Kotlowitz’s “There Are No Children Here,” a vivid portrayal of the desperate lives of children growing up amid the violence of the city’s West … Read more
Mourners at the memorial fence. Photo courtesy of The Register-Guard. May 21, 1998: It became The Day That Changed Everything. It changed everything we took for granted about what it means … Read more