○ Topic: The experiences of local journalists in the coronavirus pandemic

○ Time and Date: 17:00~18:30, 18th May(Tues), 2021

○ Guest Lecturer: Pf. Karin Wahl-Jorgensen(Cardiff University)

○ Zoom link: https://snu-ac-kr.zoom.us/j/89018180843

○ Abstrct: The coronavirus pandemic has represented a profound challenge for journalism around the world. On the one hand, the provision of trustworthy and timely information has become more important than ever. On the other hand, the pandemic brought with it major challenges to established routines of reporting and distributing the news. Against this backdrop, my presentation offers insights from research with local journalists in the UK. It focuses on the experiences of community journalists in the pandemic. Community journalists, sometimes known as hyperlocal journalists, run small, independently owned print or online publications. They represent a specific geographic area and publish locally relevant news. My research, funded by a grant from the British Academy, included 57 in-depth interviews carried out in the summer of 2020, along with a survey of 116 practitioners completed in April 2021. The presentation focuses on the logistical and financial challenges faced by these local journalists, and how they overcame them. In addition to restrictions on movement as a result of lockdowns, these included a near-total collapse of local advertising revenue, the closure of printers, and the loss of local distribution facilities. However, the majority of the journalists reported an increase in audience engagement, while some benefited from grant funding. Across the board, journalists saw the pandemic as a critical moment highlighting the importance of local news.

○ Lecturer Introduction: Karin Wahl-Jorgensen is Dean of Research Environment and Culture at Cardiff University, and a Professor in the School of Journalism, Media and Culture, where she serves as Director of Research for the Centre for Community Journalism. She holds a PhD from Stanford University, USA, and an honorary doctorate from Roskilde University, Denmark. Her research focuses on journalism and citizenship, and she has authored or edited ten books, close to 70 journal articles and more than 40 book chapters. Recent books include Emotions, Media and Politics (2019, Polity), Digital Citizenship in a Datafied Society (2019, Polity, with Arne Hintz and Lina Dencik), and Handbook of Journalism Studies, 2nd edition (2020, Routledge, co-edited with Thomas Hanitzsch). Since June 2020, she has been carrying out extensive research on the experiences of community journalists in the coronavirus pandemic, funded by a grant from the British Academy.