Introduction

Origin stories of local journalism entrepreneurs

“…Editors motivated by giving voice to community members thus prioritized the authenticity and grittiness of lived experience, suggesting an epistemic hierarchy which privileges "ordinary people" over professional journalists. While such priorities have been identified in research on other journalistic practices, including user-generated content, citizen journalism and disaster reporting (e.g., Chouliaraki and Blaagaard, 2013), it takes a distinctive form here. Harte, Howells and Williams (2018) identify two key discursive repertoires that hyperlocal practitioners deploy to legitimate their practice; those of authenticitydefined as providing an authentic representation of a place, and reciprocity -"lasting forms of exchange that deepen collective trust, social capital and overall connectedness" (Lewis et al, 2014, p. 230).…”

Domesticating distant suffering: How can news media discursively invite the audience to care?

“…Again, media are important in this process as such an emotional disposition of openness towards distant others (cf. cosmopolitanism) relies on technological mediation (Chouliaraki and Blaagaard, 2013). Journalists thus play a vital role in orientating (or not) the western spectator towards the Other in need.…”

“…For one, a discursive portrayal as close, relevant and (inter)connected to us can raise feelings of pity or even compassion which in turn can result in helping behaviour such as donating money, supporting fundraising initiatives or organizing a philanthropic event (Chouliaraki, 2006). It is in this sense that representations of suffering are 'conditions of possibility for public action' (Chouliaraki, 2008: 832) as they can carry a strong moral imperative to act on those others in the name of common humanity (Silverstone, 2007).…”

“…Categories of distance and proximity with the scene of suffering as well as the possibility of emotional involvement and identification are negotiated and established through the media, as institutions and as representations (Kyriakidou, 2011). Applying discourse analysis, Chouliaraki (2006Chouliaraki ( , 2008 conceptualized these complicated relations between representations of distant suffering and the corresponding regimes of pity and identification. She identified three discourses of news that involve different degrees of (implied) moral and emotional involvement by the audience: adventure news, emergency news and ecstatic news.…”

“…Accordingly, the most common grief and death experience of contemporary western audiences is a mediated experience of indirect exposure to instances of human suffering (Kitch and Hume, 2007). Next to the news media's primary informational role, several scholars such as Chouliaraki (2006), Pantti (2009) and Kyriakidou (2011) thus identified an important emotional role in news media's covering of international disasters: that is inviting the audience to care or to feel compassion for people who are not like us.…”