Local media, local disaster in a post-covid era

Περίληψη

Community journalism and neighbourhood journalism involves searching for and identifying the distinguishing features of this type of press. It creates an 'intimate' space for shared knowledge with its audience, which is particularly evident when the community is overwhelmed by an emergency. In emergencies, the role of new information technologies, when used strategically and in a participatory manner, falls to journalists, whether from the community or institutions, who favour forms of communication, cooperation and immediate intervention. The article reports on a local case study of journalistic practices and how local journalists operate in communities affected by natural disasters. One of the most interesting results concerns the sense of belonging to a community, which is typical of citizen journalists and leads them to explore the hardships and difficulties of their territory in depth. This sometimes goes beyond the specific logics of modern media ecology and involves experimenting with languages and giving voice to colleagues, as well as to 'old and new' audiences, including those located outside the community. In the specific case reported, this also involves giving voice to the victims of the disaster themselves.