Journalism is a practice that exists all over the world. No matter the language, news outlets find ways to inform the public on a local level. In large countries such as the United States, it’s definitely easier to have community journalism. The sheer size allows for all of those small towns and cities to really focus on the local happenings. But what about all of those other countries?

A brief background

In my previous blog, I really delved into what it was community journalism was. Just to reiterate, community journalism at its most basic level is focused on what is happening within a single community. This is the type of journalism that one would not usually find in a large newspaper such as the New York Times. For community journalism, you have to think on a much smaller scale.

International Definitions

In a society where we place such importance on the national and international goings on, it would appear that it’s easy for the media to forget about what’s happening right there in whatever country it’s based in. In fact, this idea of international community journalism was the topic of a Sage Publications book excerpt titled ‘Community Journalism as an International Phenomenon.’

The gist of the excerpt is that it’s important to look at it from each culture’s point of view. The way that the western world approaches it is different from the rest of the world. Also, another term is used, which is community media. Because the Western idea of journalism is driven more commercially and is typically radio and TV, another definition was needed.

Community media is focused more on being noncommercial, locally owned and importantly for it to be local content. The excerpt cites countries such as South Africa where there is an abundance of radios. There are numerous local radio stations that are locally owned and essentially bring the community together.

The United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, there is a fairly well-known broadcasting company called the BBC. Most have probably heard of it. My point is not only is the BBC an international company, in the UK it also has regional radio stations and news stations. For example, a city in the north of England would have its own local BBC station. Or even eastern England, the entire region, could have its own station.

These local stations really focus in on what’s happening in those areas. Whereas the BBC headquarters in London encompass national and international news.

What the BBC does here is somewhat similar to how news stations work here in the United States. There are ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC affiliates in the different regions and cities. It ensures that what’s happening locally is covered and is given a voice.

Conclusions

Community journalism means different things across the globe. It can be commercially or privately driven. It can bring communities together. It also does have its similarities across different countries. The point is, this is a form of journalism that tells the stories that would otherwise be ignored by large news outlets.