Local Information Sources -- Info on the Whole Community

Many urban areas, especially those like Chicago with large ethnic populations, have strong ethnic media outlets, such as newspapers, radio stations, Internet sites, etc. These sites, like the India Bulletin not only provide local/ethnic coverage of news that might not be covered by the mainstream press but also provide a different perspective on national news. In some ways it is like getting a completely perspective even though most of the content is produced in the United States.

Local information sources are also a great way to find out who thinks or wants to be part of a community. A look at a local newspaper advertisers, for example, will show companies and individuals (such as politicians) that want to get their message out to a specific community. Sometimes that message is the same as for the the general public and sometimes it is different.

Many of these outlets are aspirational as well as providing news/culture documentation.

And, as local newspapers are closing down, college newspapers are playing a more and more important role.  A recent NY Times article “Local News, off College Presses” highlights how the University of Michigan student paper played a big role in uncovering a legal issue with the football team. “I feel The Michigan Daily fills an important niche in Ann Arbor and a need that is unmet by our regional newspapers in an era of constrained resources,” said the student paper’s editor in chief, Peter Shahin, sitting with the two reporters who broke the football scandal story, Adam Rubenfire and Matt Slovin, in the Daily’s conference room. On the far wall, a bookshelf holds hardcover volumes of archived issues of the newspaper dating back decades. “We have 200 to 250 staff, and though we are a trade publication first covering the university, we are also trying to fill a void in other areas here, like the arts,” Mr. Shahin said. “I think we truly have the pulse of the town.”