Case Studies in Collaborative Local Journalism

"As local media around the world continue to face declining revenues and shrinking newsroom staffs, collaborative approaches may offer a vehicle for producing high-quality accountability journalism at the local level."

This report analyses the benefits, challenges, and potential of collaborative approaches for producing high-quality local journalism, based on three case studies in three European countries. Collaboration is defined as "initiatives or projects through which journalists from different news organisations work with one another and with other actors - such as technologists, data scientists, academics, and community members - to report, produce, and distribute news." Published by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, the report examines three distinct forms of collaboration, each with its own style of network building, project development, and distribution, designed to achieve particular editorial and commercial goals. The report focuses in particular on local news, as the majority of studies to date, especially those on Europe, have mainly focused on the context of national and international partnerships, often among larger news organisations.

The report is based on more than 30 interviews with key figures involved in each of the three initiatives, including journalists, senior management, community organisers, data analysts, and technical experts. The three case studies are: the Bureau Local (United Kingdom - UK), 'L'Italia Delle Slot' (Italy), and Lännen Media (Finland). Researchers also interviewed the director of CORRECTIV.Lokal, an initiative in Germany seeking to replicate the work of the Bureau Local. These outlets were chosen as they reflect the wider diversity of collaborative efforts in Europe; each addresses different challenges and involves different types of professional groups and organisations. The cases also represent multiple media systems encompassing very different media markets and landscapes for local news. The study examined the various organisation and communication tools used by the projects, as well as web content, press releases, and presentations.

The report is structured as follows. First, it assesses the background and development of each of the collaborative models, including how they define "collaboration" and the challenges in the local-news environments that gave rise to their initiatives. Then it examines the structure and editorial routines at work in the collaborations, including their approaches to building their networks and developing and distributing their editorial work. Next, it considers how participants in the collaborations view their relationships with the communities they cover and their perceived impact. Finally, it examines the benefits and challenges they have faced and how these considerations compare across countries.

These three initiatives examined in the report reflect the following three distinct models of collaboration: (i) a permanent network of journalists and non-journalists engaged in topic-driven reporting projects (the Bureau Local); (ii) legacy and start-up news organisations working together on a single extended investigation ('L'Italia Delle Slot'); and (iii) regional news organisations sharing content through a collaborative newsroom (Lännen Media).

As explained in the report, these initiatives involve both similar and divergent approaches to network building, project development, and content distribution. Two of the collaborations focus on publishing high-impact stories simultaneously across multiple outlets: The Bureau Local pursues multiple projects each year, while 'L'Italia Delle Slot' is a time-limited project focused on one subject. The third collaboration, Lännen Media, includes journalists working in newsrooms around Finland to produce national and international reporting shared among 12 member newspapers.

The report finds that these very different initiatives feature many common elements that offer potential lessons for other local newsrooms:

• Each collaboration is designed to facilitate concrete forms of resource sharing - of both human and technical resources - while minimising potential competitive friction among the individuals and organisations involved.
• All three collaborations feature diverse and dispersed networks, and they are dedicated to creating connections, both virtually and in person, to allow for knowledge-sharing, skills enhancement, and mentorship. They also aim to engage participants as equal partners in editorial processes. For example, Lännen Media's 40 reporters are distributed across the 12 participating regional outlets, as well as a dedicated Helsinki newsroom. The four editors are also geographically dispersed, and they host daily teleconferences with the reporters. A content management system, used for sharing stories with participating newsrooms, allows everyone to stay connected and updated on reporting efforts. The Bureau Local shares data and reporting guides with its participants via multiple communications channels. A Slack channel, including the use of "open newsrooms", and "hack days" are also used to bring people together.
• Participants suggest that collaborative approaches have allowed them to report on topics they would not typically cover and to engage with familiar subjects in more comprehensive ways. Many said they have also learned how to better incorporate data and multimedia elements into their reporting.
• Two of the collaborations embrace strategies that allow them to connect with communities to tell their stories. The Bureau Local and 'L'Italia Delle Slot' have both worked to build partnerships with individuals and organisations affected by the issues they cover. For example, the Bureau Local oversaw in-depth investigations on the plight of homeless people dying in the streets across a number of areas across the UK by providing cash grants that allowed local reporting teams to spend extended periods in the affected communities in order to build up relationships with key sources.
• Despite their short tenures, these efforts have shown evidence of impact on a variety of political, social, and economic issues, due in part to distribution strategies in which national and local content is released simultaneously across an array of platforms. For example, 'L'Italia Delle Slot' shone a light on the growth of gambling machines across Italy. The investigation led to locally-specific reporting across a range of media. Findings from 'L'Italia Delle Slot' were shared at the Italian parliament with lawmakers and advocacy groups, which spawned a follow-up investigation on wider forms of legal gambling.

The report finds there are significant challenges that remain. In particular, participants cited the need to develop a shared mission and goals, unite newsrooms with different ownership structures and funding models, teach local journalists how to incorporate data into their reporting, adapt their communication and management structures to reflect the needs of participants, and find ways to chart and measure the implications of their work.

In conclusion, the report makes the point that "People involved in these initiatives are hesitant to suggest that they [collaborations] offer the definitive solution to the problems facing local news, and they do not aim to replace the news industry in the cities and towns where they operate. They also expressed uncertainty about the sustainability of their efforts. Nevertheless, these projects highlight the potential of collaboration for making the most of limited resources, and show the willingness of journalists and other community-level actors to embrace experimental approaches fostering journalism that makes a difference in people's lives."