<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>A significant trend within journalism is the growth of the commentary genre. Another trend is the regional withdrawal within news journalism. News media are closing down district offices, which raises concerns over media shadows and blind spots in coverage. This article addresses both of these trends through a case analysis of the Norwegian newspaper <italic>Nordlys</italic>. Launching its commentary innovation <italic>Nordnorsk debatt</italic>, <italic>Nordlys</italic> aims to exceed its geographical area within these columns, facilitating a regional public sphere in the Arctic region. The article discusses the role of opinion-based journalism in the regional public sphere, within the theoretical perspective of media ecology and institutional theory. We argue that covering the regional level in society is a vital part of journalism’s institutional role. In addition, from an ecological perspective, the role of being a regional voice is important in the national public sphere.</p>
</abstract>

A significant trend within journalism is the growth of the commentary genre. Another trend is the regional withdrawal within news journalism. News media are closing down district offices, which raises concerns over media shadows and blind spots in coverage. This article addresses both of these trends through a case analysis of the Norwegian newspaper Nordlys. Launching its commentary innovation Nordnorsk debatt, Nordlys aims to exceed its geographical area within these columns, facilitating a regional public sphere in the Arctic region. The article discusses the role of opinion-based journalism in the regional public sphere, within the theoretical perspective of media ecology and institutional theory. We argue that covering the regional level in society is a vital part of journalism’s institutional role. In addition, from an ecological perspective, the role of being a regional voice is important in the national public sphere.

Covering Regional Blind Spots: Commentary journalism in the regional public sphere

Nordicom Review

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

A significant trend within journalism is the growth of the commentary genre. Another trend is the regional withdrawal within news journalism. News media are...

Covering Regional Blind Spots: Commentary journalism in the regional public sphere

Published Online: Feb 19, 2019

Page range: 75 - 90

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2019-0004

Keywords
Blind spot, media shadow, opinion-based journalism, media ecology, regional media

© 2019 Birgit Røe Mathisen et al., published by Sciendo

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

Covering Regional Blind Spots: Commentary journalism in the regional public sphere

Published Online: Feb 19, 2019

Page range: 75 - 90

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2019-0004

KeywordsBlind spot, media shadow, opinion-based journalism, media ecology, regional media

© 2019 Birgit Røe Mathisen et al., published by Sciendo

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

Keywords
Blind spot, media shadow, opinion-based journalism, media ecology, regional media