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<p>The European decline in newspaper circulation has fuelled debates on the consequences for civic engagement and democratic participation. Based on a qualitative interview study with 29 inhabitants of two Norwegian communities, this article examines the importance of the local press and of Facebook in the civic actions of ordinary citizens. Overall, the study suggests that both media are important and enable citizens’ involvement in collective problem-solving. However, their importance lies on different levels, as the two media play complementary roles: Whilst Facebook’s networking possibilities enable new forms of online volunteering and mobilisation, the local press constitutes a shared public sphere in which interviewees can gather information and create awareness of local happenings, politics and volunteering.</p>
</abstract>

The European decline in newspaper circulation has fuelled debates on the consequences for civic engagement and democratic participation. Based on a qualitative interview study with 29 inhabitants of two Norwegian communities, this article examines the importance of the local press and of Facebook in the civic actions of ordinary citizens. Overall, the study suggests that both media are important and enable citizens’ involvement in collective problem-solving. However, their importance lies on different levels, as the two media play complementary roles: Whilst Facebook’s networking possibilities enable new forms of online volunteering and mobilisation, the local press constitutes a shared public sphere in which interviewees can gather information and create awareness of local happenings, politics and volunteering.

Local Newspapers, Facebook and Local Civic Engagement: A Study of Media Use in Two Norwegian Communities

Nordicom Review

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The European decline in newspaper circulation has fuelled debates on the consequences for civic engagement and democratic participation. Based on a qualitative...

Gender and age	Community	Occupation	Form of community engagement
Woman, 17	Urban	Student	NGO
Woman, 19	Urban	Student	NGO
Man, 27	Urban	Employed	None
Man, 28	Urban	Employed	Politics
Woman, 28	Rural	Employed	Volunteering
Woman, 29	Rural	Employed	Volunteering
Woman, 30	Rural	Student	Volunteering
Man, 32	Rural	Employed	NGO
Woman, 33	Urban	Employed	NGO
Woman, 35	Rural	Employed	Volunteering
Woman, 35	Rural	Student	None
Woman, 42	Urban	Employed	None
Man, 46	Urban	Employed	Volunteering
Woman, 46	Rural	Employed	Volunteering
Man, 47	Urban	Employed	None
Man, 48	Urban	Employed	None
Man, 48	Rural	Employed	Politics
Man, 52	Urban	Employed	Volunteering
Woman, 54	Urban	Employed	None
Man, 62	Urban	Employed	CSA
Man, 63	Rural	Employed	Politics
Man, 64	Urban	Retired	CSA
Man, 69	Rural	Retired	Politics
Woman, 70	Urban	Retired	Volunteering
Man, 72	Rural	Retired	CSA
Man, 78	Urban	Retired	CSA
Woman, 79	Urban	Retired	CSA
Woman, 80	Rural	Retired	CSA
Man, 84	Urban	Retired	CSA

Local Newspapers, Facebook and Local Civic Engagement: A Study of Media Use in Two Norwegian Communities

Published Online: Dec 31, 2018

Page range: 49 - 62

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2018-0011

Keywords
democratic participation, community engagement, local press, social media, qualitative interviews

© 2018 Malene Paulsen Lie, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Interviewees listed by main characteristics

Local Newspapers, Facebook and Local Civic Engagement: A Study of Media Use in Two Norwegian Communities

Published Online: Dec 31, 2018

Page range: 49 - 62

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2018-0011

Keywordsdemocratic participation, community engagement, local press, social media, qualitative interviews

© 2018 Malene Paulsen Lie, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Interviewees listed by main characteristics

Keywords
democratic participation, community engagement, local press, social media, qualitative interviews