DISCOVERY PHASE REPORT – JULY 2016

CovLife: Developing Local Media

Discovery Phase Report Summary

The Discovery Phase of the project was designed to investigate existing local media and media usage in Coventry, and to explore the need, viability, and options for a new form of community media service in the city.

Occurring in two stages, this involved:

• Mapping the existing media ecosystem in Coventry to understand existing provision.
• Meeting with community stakeholders to assess their media usage and needs.

The original expectation was that these findings would feed into the preliminary design and development process of a prototype platform. However, the key message to emerge from this process is that users want community-focussed content accessible via existing channels, either digitally or in print, rather than a specific platform. This phase has then, built an effective methodology, which can be taken to community groups in Coventry to explore this question further.

The key takeaways are:

1. Gaps exist in the categories of content provided by the existing media ecosystem in Coventry – although thinking outside the traditional categories used by local media is really tough.
2. Users want content provided by professional journalists because they feel they can trust it.
3. Users access information about their communities in a wide variety of ways. They do not want a specialist platform to add to this noise.
4. Therefore, the mode of delivery for categories of content will need to be tailored to the audience at which it is aimed. This may well be on paper as well as digital.

This has led to a reassessment of the CovLife: Developing Local Media project – so that rather than a platform, it exists as a service. The emerging concept is that of a not-for-profit news agency specialising in content aligned to those categories identified and which sits within, and networks with, existing news providers.

See the full Discovery Phase report: CovLife: Developing Local Media – Discovery Phase Report – July 2016

GET INVOLVED! COME ALONG TO THE COVENTRY KNOWLEDGE CAFÉ EVENT!

Do you care about the future of local media in Coventry? Would you like to be part of it? If the answer is yes, we’d love to meet you at this exciting interactive event!

WHEN: Wednesday 29 June 2016, 1PM – 4PM

WHERE: Digital Media Learning Lab, Lanchester Library, Coventry University, Gosford Street, Coventry, CV1 5FB

As part of the project Discovery Phase, the Knowledge Café Event is designed to explore local media in Coventry with members of the local community, whilst also exploring the options for a new form of community media in the city together.

What does local media in Coventry look like now? How should it look in the future? How could it better serve the community? We’ll be exploring these questions and more, and we’d love you to join us!

The workshop is open to anyone and will involve a series of activities aimed at getting your creative juices flowing.

The event is FREE however places are limited so please register if you would like to attend.

Come along, get involved, and be part of the future of local media in Coventry!

REGISTER FOR FREE HERE

 

WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?

Journalism has always had a fundamental role in any democratic society, ensuring properly informed populations and communities as the primary source of information, whilst providing one of the essential surveillances on those in power. Whilst journalism still aims to fulfill this role, the disruption caused by new technologies throughout the 21st century has presented a number of challenges and opportunities for the world of journalism.

The emergence of increased online connectivity, mobile, social media, blogging, and data has transformed the way we produce, distribute, and consume information; today, anybody can publish, broadcast, and advertise, a privilege previously reserved solely for journalists. As such, people now demand and have access to more information than ever in more ways than ever. At the same time, new technologies have created more ways for journalists to connect with their audience, however, with audiences now demanding more, journalism has to be more targeted, more convenient, more engaging, and more focused on the audience than ever to be successful. This has all posed an enormous threat to traditional forms of journalism that have been slow to change and adapt, with traditional business models collapsing and many newsrooms shrinking, whilst others have exploited the potential of new approaches and new technologies, and have thrived both creatively and financially.

Developing Local Media is a research-led project which intervenes in the increasingly wide gap left in the market by the continued decline of traditional local news outlets. This topic is currently the subject of debate within the highest government, industry, and academic circles in the UK. As such, this project is a timely, practice-based intervention in this area; it is real, present, and now. This positioning is enabled by its interrogation of the key value proposition of ‘community benefit’ which is exploited by commercial local media to justify their industry practice. The project suggests that these monopolistic media no longer sustain this value but have reduced it to a functional value which serves their financial interest and continued survival in the ever changing industry. As such, the project proposes creating a non-for-profit model which is able to re-emphasise the community in its activities.

Whilst the project recognises that established local news brands like the Coventry Telegraph are still vital to the city; it suggests that there is also room for different projects which can serve the community in different ways. What those projects might be and what they might look like are central to this project. The aim of the project is to investigate current local media in Coventry, whilst exploring options for a new collaborative media platform designed to work with and for the community. This community is defined geographically around the city of Coventry, and will seek to be inclusive of all within this area. The hope is to then create something which reaches out to, and meets the needs of, this community. A meeting with potential stakeholders has demonstrated a strong desire for such a platform, as a way to reach populations and communities within the city and to showcase the best of Coventry life. This is particularly resonant as Coventry prepares to bid for City of Culture 2021 status.

We’ll be keeping you updated with the progress of the project as well as any other useful or important information, so keep checking back!

If you’d like to find out even more about the project and get involved yourself, our Coventry Knowledge Event Café on Wednesday 29 June gives you the opportunity to do just that! Come along, get creative, and be part of the future of local media in Coventry!

REGISTER FOR FREE HERE