Exploring the challenges faced by UK local news production by mainstream and nonmainstream media in a local news oasis

Nelmes, Andrew John 2026. Exploring the challenges faced by UK local news production by mainstream and nonmainstream media in a local news oasis. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

Due to falling audiences and advertising revenues local journalism is in crisis, both in its economic viability and its ability to fulfil its public interest and community sustaining goals and aspirations, as such news deserts and news black holes have drawn attention from scholars and policy makers. In contrast, the news ecosystem in Bristol, one of the UK’s largest cities and one with entrenched social and economic divisions, has been called a news oasis because of the diversity, variety and plurality of its media, ranging from nationally owned traditional news organisations and the publicly owned BBC, to independent community-focused initiatives. This thesis examines the contributions of established news media and emergent alternatives to citizenship and democracy in meeting the critical information needs of the various communities in the city. The theoretical method adopted by this thesis is the media power lens which combines political economy, cultural studies and sociological approaches, which, along with Bourdieu’s field theory and Putnam’s ideas around bridging and bonding social capital, give an insight into relations between the local media and local power structures. Through a content analysis and interviews with local news workers this thesis compares the journalism produced by the local media organisations, and highlights the knowledge gap in the city due to the unequal distribution of socio-political knowledge along socioeconomic lines, which contributes to falling democratic participation and the spreading of misinformation. This research demonstrates a concern with how local journalism can undermine community cohesion, journalistic authority and trust through alienating and erasing the marginalised from the public sphere and how this is due, in part, to newsroom practices such as networked copy sharing, relying on non-local news and the pressure to maximise page views, which are hallmarks of current revenue maximising strategies by the nationally owned local outlets.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Schools > Journalism, Media and Culture
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	14 October 2026
Last Modified:	14 Oct 2026 08:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/190221

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