Eesti neliteist maakonnalehte aastal 2011
Date
2011
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Tartu Ülikool
Abstract
The aim of the Master´s Thesis “14 Estonian local newspapers in 2011” is to give a detailed survey of the local newspapers and to find out to which extent the papers fulfill the role of the community journalism. In order to answer the questions set, the author used the following methods: content analysis to carry out the survey on the content of the local newspapers, qualitative text-analysis for analyzing the editorials and opinion articles, and the questionnaire, in order to find out how the journalists of the local paper understand the role of the local paper.
The Master´s Thesis revealed that the dominating topics surveyed in the papers were the adoption of Euro, politics, sport, weather conditions and entertainment. Among other topics discussed in the editorials and columns emerged such subjects as the local development and moral. Remarkably were the similar subjects and topics discussed in Estonian daily papers.
A significant difference became evident while carrying out the survey – while the local newspapers discussed the adoption of Euro on a wider scale without setting it into the wider economic-political context, the daily papers had the contrasting tendency i.e. the articles on monetary reforms were mainly concentrating on its wider economic-political importance on analytical basis.
The local newspapers published short articles and texts with less analytical and thorough discussion than the daily papers did, and the local newspapers had the tendency to use press releases or quotations from other media issues, without referring to the initial source of the particular information.
Both, the daily as well as the local newspapers, mainly issued articles with the basic function of giving information. While the daily papers also had articles with general educating function, the local newspapers printed articles of integrating function.
While the dominating amount of the articles published in local papers fitted well into the local dimension, the articles published in the newspapers Eesti Päevaleht and Postimees had the dominating group formed by the articles of primary dimension. It must be mentioned that the local newspapers did not neglect Estonian life on the wider scale by offering topics and events of the national significance and acuteness.
The amount of articles published by the editors and correspondents and people outside the staff had the same rate both in daily and local newspapers, whereas the latter had the tendency of using ordinary people not only in the section of the Readers´ Letters but gave them the possibility to be an author in other genres as well. Moreover, while the local newspapers offered the opportunity for any common person to act as the spokesman, the daily papers mainly used experts in that role.
The analysis of the news stories revealed the fact that in local papers there exist far less articles of personified topics, signifying the personal experience of a person, than in the daily newspapers.
The Master´s Thesis also concludes that according to the journalists of local papers the most important role of the local newspaper is to inform their people on the local events. They also consider significant the task of the local paper to develop and improve the local life, keep the development and inform the reader about the decisions and work of the local government and authorities. They also remark it is important to consider the expectations of the reader and the people of the local community. Besides that they consider the expectations of their colleagues, direct manager, editor and Estonian people. However, there are less those who in compiling the paper consider the expectations of the clerks of the local government and of those ordering advertising.