According to the New York Times, a survey from the Pew Research Center shows that American newspapers are systematically cutting national and foreign news and focusing more on “hyper-local” sections and web sites:
Three-fifths of the papers reported having less space for news over all, as newspapers try to save money by shifting to smaller pages and printing fewer of them. The only area cut nearly as often as foreign news was national news, which declined at 57 percent of the papers.
I’ve written before in defense of hyper-local journalism, but I do think there are some caveats to keep in mind. You can’t just cut resources and expect the downward spiral to flatten out as a result.
Local is good, but it’s not a one-hit-wonder. It will not carry you to success on its own.
Eat Sleep Publish is a Seattle-based blog that explores the difficulties and opportunities currently facing the publishing industry.
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