Swedish local newspapers role in the future media landscape

Abstract: The point of this report, written by Malin Paulsson, is to research the future of the Swedish local newspapers in a society where the digital medias take a larger market share of the total media range. In this research, questions of how the conditions will be for the local newspapers to survive in a 3-5 year perspective and which shape and design changes they will need to implement in this time period, will be answered. The paid printed newspaper is a mature medium and new mediums have exposed this to a big competition. At the same time it’s remarkable how the newspaper manage to keep its position so well. With my special relationship with Ystads Allehanda, the local newspaper in my hometown, I got curious by how the local newspapers will face the development in the near future. I interviewed three editors and one market manager on three local newspapers in Skåne about their thoughts about the future. The answers I got were generally the same. There is little concern for the future but they are aware of the changes that should take place and how soon. They emphasize the importance of the local because it is their strength. The web is important for the local newspapers and they see the future in this media. Journalism will require being able to do more things than just typing. The content will change on both web and newspaper and they will be more separated from each other. By means of literature research on, among other things, the history of press, economic factors, consumption of other media, the international market of the daily press, I analyze the answers I got from the interviews. The result is that the conditions for the local printed newspaper to survive within five years are pretty good. Digital media will gradually replace the paper magazine but five years is too short for it to die out. There are advantages with the newspaper, which is not found in digital media. Today’s local newspapers are also established compared to the new free newspapers. However we will se more consolidation among newspapers so less newspaper titles in the near future is possible.