La dimensión informativa del ciberperiodismo hiperlocal en Galicia

Abstract

The transformation of the communications system has broken with the traditional model of media in areas of proximity. In the last decade, the crisis in the local press, the growth of digital natives and the behavior change of audiences into more active roles have favored the development of hyperlocal online media. The rise of this type of media is a global phenomenon whose antecedents are located in the United States and acquires a strong journalistic basis from 2009. The hyperlocal media often operate in small, well defined geographical areas, are digital natives, community-oriented, produce original content and promote citizen journalism. In Galicia, the geographical framework of this research, the reality of hyperlocal online media has been the subject of a first exploration, which has shown the relevance of this new type of media, as well as the main trends and characteristics of its development. Based on this phenomenon in Galicia, the objective of this research is to measure the dimension of the information supply of these media. It is therefore a descriptive study to determine the volume and frequency of publication. For that, a sampling period of 10 days has been established. Each day, the RSS feed of the studied online media outlets was captured automatically, establishing two daily checks. The data obtained allow to know the number and date of published news, setting the volume and frequency of publication. The results show that the hyperlocal online journalism in Galicia not only constitutes an important communication sector in terms of number of media outlets, but their publications are also a relevant offer of information of proximity, useful and close content, which is increasingly demanded by readers.